La Liga, Week 2: Villarreal-Sevilla, Barcelona-Real Sociedad Both End 2-2

After the goal, Espanyol woke up a bit and started fighting back; the action became very back and forth, with the squads exchanging fast paced attacks until the 73rd minute, when Sergio García received a pass in the area, flicked the ball over Athletic keeper Iraizoz with his knee, then athletically volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

It was a truly sensational goal, though I can’t help but place most of the blame on Iraizoz, whose very silly-looking save attempt allowed Sergio García to retrieve the ball alone in front of goal. Still, I shouldn’t take anything away from García, who is deservedly the man of the match.

But “El Loco” Bielsa’s side started to shrink as the game went on, and within twenty minutes Espanyol had seized the lion by its’ mane, so to speak (how many lion jokes can I make? Lots. How many will be funny? Very few). Right after the 21st minute, when Espanyol fans traditionally salute their fallen captain Dani Jarque with a minute-long standing ovation, Sergio García gave the crowd at Cornellà-El Prat something to smile about, heading home a cross from Álvaro.

After the goal, things began to quiet down again; but the leones would roar once more before the stroke of halftime. The “Lion King” Llorente chested a long cross down to Marcos in front of goal, but the young Basque playmaker’s volley flew over the crossbar; too bad, really--it would’ve definitely been a candidate for goal of the week had it gone in.

But they seemed to calm down after the goal, and Atlético clawed their way back into the match. New acquisitions Diego and Arda Turán made their debuts for the robiblancos, and really turned the game around: they provided solidity and attacking flare in midfield, and finally managed to string together some decent counter attacks.

But, like last week, Atleti were left feeling impotent in front of goal. They just couldn’t put one past Valencia keeper Guaita, who saved los chés on various occasions. All three of Atleti’s new acquisitions had legitimate chances, and all three--Radamel Falcao, Diego, and Arda Turan--either found Guaita or shot wide. I’m still sticking to my conviction that this team has some good days ahead of it, but wow, the really need to learn how to score.

*And no, handling a goalbound shot isn’t cheating, unless you think committing a foul is cheating, in which case I hate you.

Anyway, Sociedad probably didn’t deserve the points, but they got them anyway, and we have our first major twist in the La Liga title race. Interesting!

Diego Lopez, Villarreal’s keeper picked up a straight red in the 22nd minute for hauling down Alvaro Negredo and denying a clear goal scoring opportunity, with Negredo converting the penalty two minutes later. Between the man advantage and Sevilla’s performance last week, the match appeared all but wrapped up at that point.

At that point, the Yellow Submarine got a bit more defensive, and that would come back to haunt them. Alexis scored the 86th minute equalizer with a fantastic header to make the score 2-2. That score probably constituted a justified result, as both teams played fairly well but neither did enough to clearly deserve a win.