Big scorelines punctuated this afternoon's action in Spain, with each match featuring at least three goals (despite most having none at halftime), though none of the results changed the composition of the league table drastically. Real Sociedad dismantled an already-descended Racing Santander squad 3-0 in Anoeta, Espanyol fell to Sporting Gijón 0-3 in Cornellà, Levante blasted past Granada 3-1 in Valencia, and Mallorca destroyed Getafe 0-3 in Madrid.
La Liga 2012, Week 35: Despite Big Scorelines, Early Games Leave Table Unchanged
Real Sociedad 3-0 Racing Santander
Well, there’s not that much more to say about this match: Racing Santander, facing their second Basque team in two weeks, decided to ply essentially the same game against la Real as they did against Athletic. That is, they decided to not try and look pathetic. There’s really not much else that can be said: Racing are suffering through their last few weeks in Primera for at least a year, and they have (a little) reason to be mopey. Greizmann opened the scoring in the 47th minute for la Real, and you could tell it was over; he added another goal in the 69th minute, and Agirretxe tacked one on in the 83rd (his celebration seemed exceedingly excessive, considering the circumstances), but the match was over as soon as the referee blew for kick off.
Espanyol 0-3 Sporting Gijón
In a result that probably means nothing for either side, Sporting Gijón grabbed three unlikely points from Cornellà this afternoon, dismantling Espanyol 0-3. Espanyol will not fall any lower than around where they are in the table, so this match--and those that follow--will mean nothing to them until they play Barcelona next week; on the other hand, Sporting are looking to crawl out of the six point relegation hole they're in, and this result is a good step in the right direction. Colunga scored on 47 minutes to bring the visitors ahead, and they managed to tack on two more, in the 70th and 80th minutes, off the boots of Tejo and Bilic respectively.
Levante 3-1 Granada
In what was probably the closest match of the afternoon, Levante squeezed past Granada 3-1 (and into European contention--for now) thanks to goals from Koné, Xavi Torres, and Valdo. Koné opened the scoring for the Valencianos, but Granada came back to tie on 66 minutes thanks to a brilliant play from Ighalo. The tie would only last about six more minutes, however, until Xavi Torres found the back of the net in the 73rd minute. Granada pressed valiantly until the end, but were ultimately undone by Valdo in the 80th minute. This was a fantastic result for Levante, who look set to at least make a final push into European contention this season--a shocking result from a shocking side.
Getafe 1-3 Mallorca
I'm going to preface this recap by saying that this might be the least important of the three matches today. Mallorca and Getafe, previously cemented next to each other in the middle of the table, remain essentially in the same places (flipped), despite Mallorca's destructive victory in Madrid. Getafe never seemed like they were in the game, as they dropped to 0-1 in the 30th minute thanks to a smart play form Victor Casadesús, who slipped in behind the defense to nod the ball in. They then totally fell apart in the second half, conceding goals to Alfaro in the 68th minute on a play that seemed very similar to the first goal, and then to Hemed in the 78th minute. Their only redemption was a strike in the 92nd minute, long after the result was already in the bag. A bad result for a Getafe side that seemed not to care either way.
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