Here’s what happened on Saturday in Matchday 11 in La Liga, ahead of El Clasico, with some big results.
Real Valladolid 1-2 Villarreal
Villarreal were back to winning ways after a disappointing draw with Getafe last week, and were ahead inside half an hour through Thierry Barry. The Yellow Submarine were in control for most of the match, but a Moussa Sylla penalty on the hour-mark levelled matters.
However Villarreal huffed, puffed, and eventually broke down the resistance at the Jose Zorrilla. Ayoze Perez nabbed his seventh goal off the bench with just six minutes to go, earning a deserved three points for Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side. The fact Valladolid goalkeeper Karl Hein earned the man of the match award was symbolic of La Pucela’s struggles too.
FT: Valladolid 1-2 Villarreal
Villarreal back to winning ways courtesy of the men in form, Baena with an assist (6), Ayoze with a goal (7).
Barry gave Marcelino's side a HT lead, but a Sylla penalty and an inspired Hein in goal threatened a point. Ayoze struck late to win it! pic.twitter.com/93tmmkRlyZ
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 26, 2024
Valladolid remain in the drop zone, and make it three defeats in their last four at home. Villarreal are up to third ahead of Atletico Madrid’s game, and at this point, they look fairly good to challenge Diego Simeone’s side for that spot.
Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Alaves
Inigo Perez’s side started in fine fashion, forcing good saves from Antonio Sivera in the Alaves goal, but their plan was torn to pieces after 20 minutes when Abdul Mumin was sent off for a last-man challenge on Toni Martinez.
Alaves took off a defender and went more attacking, but were not entirely convincing going forward all the same. Agustin Batalla was forced into action in three instances, coming up big for Rayo, but neither were the home side out of the game. With just 10 minutes to go, brilliant work from Alvaro Garcia allowed him to lay the ball off to Gerard Gumbau. He shaped a lovely strike towards the top corner, which Sivera tipped onto the bar, and unfortunately for him, deflected in for an own goal when he landed.
FT: Rayo 1-0 Alaves
Great morale boost for Rayo, who played 70 mins a man down after Mumin's red. They had to call on Batalla thrice to thwart a disappointing Alaves, but Gumbau's late effort gifted the home side three points.
Alaves closer to conceding than scoring at the end pic.twitter.com/x0jTYvPzbm
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 26, 2024
Even a goal down, the Basque side struggled to throw much at Batalla, and Rayo looked more likely in the closing stages, drawing another couple of saves from Sivera. El Glorioso are in 14th, just two points above the drop now, while Rayo shoot up to seventh, just a point removed from European football.
Las Palmas 1-0 Girona
Las Palmas had gone 23 games and eight months without a win when Diego Martinez arrived, locked to the bottom of the table. His side made it two wins out of two under him, and shot out of the drop zone in the process, in a frustrating defeat for Girona.
The Catalan side took the lead through a brilliant outside of the boot strike from Donny van de Beek, but the referee disallowed it for a soft foul on Alex Suarez, who ran into the back of Bojan Miovski arm as he laid it off. A hugely frustrated Michel Sanchez had little reason to relax more thereafter.
As Las Palmas got back into the game, Girona suffered another injury, with right-back Alejandro Frances limping off just before half-time. While they were replacing him, a Viti cross was allowed to bounce in the box, and left-back Alex Munoz fired into the corner for his third of the season – from the same side Frances would have been on.
FT: Las Palmas 1-0 Girona
DIEGO MARTINEZ BACK IN A BIG WAY! Las Palmas hadn't won in 23, now they've gone back-to-back!
Munoz's goal, great Cillessen saves and some hearty defending keep Girona out. Kirian could've made it more comfortable, but they're out of the drop zone! pic.twitter.com/SjamiTMkDO
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 26, 2024
Las Palmas captain Kirian Rodriguez could have made things more comfortable, failing to convert an open goal, but it was a second half of attrition for the islanders. They defended with all they had, in front of the excellent Jasper Cillessen, who made several good saves to preserve his clean sheet.
Evidence of Girona’s frustration was in a red card for reserve goalkeeper Juan Carlos, who was dismissed for dissent. They lie 13th, with just three points separating them from Las Palmas. They are fresh out of the relegation zone after starting the week locked to the bottom, sitting 17th.
