La Liga Sunday, Round 17: Barcelona Defeat Levante, Offcials Help Valencia To A Win

In the 92nd minute, 10 man Valencia have engineered a winner off of a short corner kick to snag three points in stoppage time once again. Just before the winter break, Valencia stole three points in a similar fashion against Real Sociedad. Thanks to those two matches, Valencia now sit in fourth place by themselves, three points of their nearest competitors.

The goal was questionable, with both Ricardo Costa, the man who made the assist, and Juan Mata, the man who scored appearing to be offsides. The Espanyol players and coaching staff protested passionately after the game was over, but obviously, the referee had little time for them.

Valencia are down to 10 men with 30 minutes to go thanks to the referee showing a straight red card to Aritz Aduriz for...absolutely nothing. Aduriz slapped Espanyol’s Javi Chica on the arm and Chica went down like he’d been shot, clutching his arm as if it was broken. Aduriz was sent off for unsporting conduct, and Valencia are down to ten. A couple of sites are listing the red card as for “fighting,” which is obviously downright absurd.

This is the second big decision in the game that the referee has gotten absolutely 100% wrong. Thankfully, the last one he got wrong ended up having no effect on the game thanks to a corner kick goal by the man who has been sent off, Aduriz. At least that decision was on a play that was happening very quickly, making the referee’s decision difficult. In this case, the ref has simply bottled it.

After a first half that saw Valencia outplay Espanyol and score the opener, the visitors have pulled level in first half stoppage time through a terrible own goal from Valencia defender Ricardo Costa. Jose Maria Callejon created the opportunity, but it was going nowhere without Costa’s touch.

Callejon ran down the right flank with the ball and cut in on his left foot, sending what could have been either a cross or a shot into the box with his left foot. It was a harmless ball that his keeper would have dealt with very easily. Costa attempted to direct the ball out of play for a corner with his head, but instead he directed the ball directly into the back of his own net. Espanyol went into halftime level, but they didn’t necessarily deserve it.

Pedro gets his name on the scoresheet for the second time, linking up with Dani Alves once more to put Barcelona out of sight. Bojan worked the ball out to the right, with Alves resisting the temptation to whip a ball across, instead opting for a cut-back to Pedro who lashed in an unstoppable first-time shot from just inside the area. A stunning goal that will surely put Barcelona en route to all three points. What are the odds for Pedro to go on and claim a second-half hattrick?

Thiago has already looked useful in the last ten minutes, spraying the ball around the park effectively, while the goals seem to have lifted a huge weight off the Barcelona players shoulders. Levante may well point to that penalty that never was, but the Luis Garcia Plazas men look a beaten team as we enter the final half hour of the match. Levante need a goal quickly if they are going to have any chance of getting anything out of the match, but the counters that put Barca under pressure in the first half have long since dried up.

Barcelona have come racing out of the blocks in this second half, and have taken the lead through Pedro. Xavi flighted the ball across the area, and with the Levante defender misjudging the ball, Dani Alves controlled the ball on his chest before feinting his way past two defenders. Just when it looked like the chance would go begging the Brazilian laid the ball back for Pedro who made space for himself by shifting the ball onto his right foot, before rifling a shot past Manolo Reina in the Levante goal.

So all that hard work in the first half goes to waste for Levante, who will now need to abandon their defensive formation in search for an equaliser. The extra space will be greatly receieved by Barca and this early goal in the second half could well be the catalyst for one or two more from the home side. Pep Guardiola immediately made a tactical switch after the goal, replacing Javier Mascherano for the more attack-minded youngster Thiago, as Barca look to kill the match off. The deadlock has been broken.

Athletic Bilbao were the better team throughout their match tonight at La Catedral, San Mames, but due to some terrible defensive errors and poor finishing, an inferior Deportivo La Coruña side have taken an invaluable three points on the road. Adrian was the man of the hour, scoring both of Depor’s goals.

The first goal came off of a penalty that I thought was legitimate at first, but upon replay was soft. Still, Ustaritz of Athletic hacked rather wildly at Adrian, while he missed him completely, making the referee’s decision difficult. Adrian, who created the penalty kick, also stepped up to convert it and give his team a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

After 34 minutes, Athletic Bilbao are not in a situation they would have anticipated at the start of this match. Defender Mikel San Jose has been shown a straight red card for taking down an attacking player as the last man. The referee’s decision was questionable, since Ustaritz was in a position where he could have conceivably caught up to the attacker, but San Jose’s challenge was dumb nonetheless and he really shouldn’t have too many complaints.

The referee won’t be the most popular man in San Mames today, but San Jose and Ustaritz have forced him into difficult decisions with incredibly poor decision making of their own. Whether or not the 22nd minute penalty and 34th minute red card were harsh, they still hacked at attacking players in goal scoring positions. They’ve been done in much more by their own stupidity than bad decisions by the officials.

After 22 minutes of Athletic Bilbao being the better side, Deportivo La Coruña have taken the lead thanks to a penalty conceded on a counter-attack. Adrian Lopez was the man who drew the foul, and he was also the man who converted the penalty.

The spot kick was given after a poor challenge from Ustaritz, barging into the back of Lopez in the box. He was shown a yellow card for the foul, and for some reason, the Athletic players felt it was appropriate to strongly protest the foul and card, despite the call being painfully obvious. Lopez stepped up and curled the ball into the side netting to his left with a brilliant penalty take.

Athletic Bilbao had some fitness issues going into the winter break and not all of their players were able to fully recover during the lay-off. As a result, their lineup has an interesting look to it with a couple of glaring holes. Midfielder Javi Martinez, a staple in their lineup, is not in the 18 man side. Regular starting central defender, Fernando Amorebieta, starts the game on the bench. For Deportivo La Coruña, they are notably missing Andres Guardado, whose injury troubles continue.

Athletic Bilbao lineup (4-4-2 diamond): Iraizoz ; Ustaritz, San Jose, Castillo, Iraola ; Grupegui, Orbaiz, Lopez, Muniain ; Llorente, Toquero