La Liga Round-Up: European race turns white hot as Basque giants falter – Valencia score mammoth win | OneFootball

A round-up of all the games on Sunday from La Liga, in another thrilling weekend of action.

Barcelona 1-0 Alaves

Barcelona secured an important victory over Alaves to cut the gap to Real Madrid down to four points at the top, but only did so by the minimum.

Valencia 2-1 Celta Vigo

Having seen Espanyol get a win over Real Madrid on Saturday night, Los Che responded with three points of their own at Mestalla. Carlos Corberan’s second win in La Liga looked in doubt after Hugo Duro missed two good chances, but Javi Guerra found Luis Rioja for the opener in the first half.

Even when they were pegged back by Celta though, with a lovely Pablo Duran finish in the 65th minute, they wasted little time. Guerra was on the scoresheet this time, firing an excellent finish after getting in behind the defence. Not without struggle either, Valencia kept themselves four points from safety. Celta’s concerning slide has them just four points clear of the drop.

Osasuna 2-1 Real Sociedad

In a local clash, Osasuna snapped a 9-game winless streak through Ante Budimir’s goals. La Real, off the back of 4 defeats in 5 Liga matches, drop to 11th place.

Real Betis 2-2 Athletic Club

Image via EFE

Honours were even at the Benito Villamarin in a tense and charged encounter, as two teams chasing European qualification went to battle. Real Betis had the better start, as recent signing Antony made his mark early, with his shot turned in by Isco, following an Unai Simon save. Simon was forced into action again following an Antony pass for Johnny Cardoso not long after.

Athletic Club fought back though, and without too many clear chances, Aitor Paredes bundled in a header from a corner. Before the break though, Romain Perraud scored his first goal in style, cutting in on his weaker right foot and firing the ball into the top corner for the lead.

Neither side found ways to open up the other with much regularity, but Athletic had their set pieces to thank again, as Oihan Sancet powered home a corner midway through the second half. The Basque side come away with a good point, but see the gap to Villarreal in fifth reduced to four points. Betis’ point keeps them in the top half, just three points off Europe, but with just one win in six Liga matches.