After week 28 matches in the Spanish Primera Division, it’s getting heated as the battle for the league’s top scorer award gets tighter and tougher.
With current leader, Lionel Messi, who has 24goals to his name so far this season missing at the weekend, his other competitors seized the opportunity to close the gap between them and the talented Argentine.
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Here is how the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Iago Aspas fared in their respective clubs.
Ronaldo’s Brace Edges Real Madrid Past Stubborn Eibar
Once again, defending champions, Real Madrid had to depend on that man, Cristiano Ronaldo, to bail them from out of a difficult situation, this time against Eibar.
Los Blancos battled to a 2-1 win over the team placed eighth on the table, but had Ronaldo to thank as it was his brace, including a late winner, that sealed all three points for his side.
With the title firmly destined for Camp Nou, home of their fiercest rivals, Barcelona, Real needed to put pressure on second place city rivals, Atletico Madrid, and the chasing pack of Valencia and Villarreal.
They got off to a good start when Luka Modrid capitalised on an error from defender, Anaitz Arbilla to set up Ronaldo, who gave his side a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
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However, five minutes after the restart, the hosts were back level, no less than their resilience and brilliance in the first half deserved.
Gonzalo Escalante’s audacious cross-cum shot almost caught Keylor Navas in goal for the visitors napping, but the Costa Rican reacted well to push it off for a corner kick.
The resultant set piece finds Ivan Ramis, who heads into the net to equalise for Eibar.
The home side remained stubborn in defense, attacking well and were the better side following that leveler.
But with six minutes left to play, Ronaldo struck again as another defensive mixup is punished by Real, this time by Dani Carvajal, whose cross found Ronaldo, and the Portuguese made no mistakes with his header from close range.
A resolute performance from Eibar, deserving of at least a point but two mistakes from their defenders mean they are undone by a clinical Ronaldo, who wins Real all three points.
It was Los Blancos’ sixth win in their last seven La Liga outings, and sees them close the gap with Atletic to just four points, albeit momentarily.
For Ronaldo, it was the fifth league game in a row he has scored at least a goal, moving him to 18 for the campaign, and six behind Messi, with 10 games left to play.
Griezmann’s Impressive Form Continues As Atletic Cage Iago Aspas
Antoine Griezmann shone like a million stars as Atletic Madrid bounced back from their narrow defeat to Barcelona last weekend.
Diego Simeone’s men defeated Celta Vigo 3-0, with Griezmann named man of the match following his impressive performance.
The 26-year-old Frenchman, who picked up the award for the league’s best player in February ahead of kickoff, has been in an excellent form for his side lately, and there seems to be no stopping him right now.
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He gave his side the lead just before half time, then, turned provider for team mate, Vitolo to double their advantage ten minutes after the break.
Angel Correa wrapped it all up with a third goal just after the hour mark to seal victory and all three points, which sees them restore their seven points advantage over Real Madrid, who transiently reduced the deficit after their win at Eibar.
Griezmann’s goal moved him to 16 league goals, and an impressive eight in his last four league games.
Meanwhile, while Griezmann was adding to his season’s tally, Iago Aspas was kept quiet all game by Atletic’s defenders, who marshalled him all through the game until he was substituted in the 72nd minute.
However, the former Liverpool man remain on 16 goals, but have failed to find the back of the net in his last three games.
Luis Suarez Shines In Messi’s Absence as Barca Win Against Ten-man Malaga
With Lionel Messi out injured, Luis Suarez was instrumental as Barcelona took a step closer to the La Liga title with a 2-0 win against 10-man Malaga.
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Two first half strikes from Suarez and Philippe Coutinho set Barca on their part to victory against Malaga, who played for 60minutes with a man down, after Samuel Garcia was shown a straight red card on the half-hour mark.
Barca stay stop, eight points ahead of their closest challengers, Atletic, while Suarez’s strike against bottom of table Malaga moved him to 21goals, three behind his team mate, and league top shot, Messi.
Full Results
Friday, 09 March
Girona 2-0 Deportivo
Saturday, 10 March
Eibar 1-2 Real Madrid
Sevilla 0-2 Valencia
Getafe 1-0 Levante
Malaga 0-2 Barcelona
Sunday, 11 March
Espanyol 2-1 Real Sociedad
Atletico 3-0 Celta Vigo
Las Palmas 0-2 Villarreal
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Leganes
