MADRID, Oct 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Granada moved top of La Liga on Sunday
with a 1-0 victory over Real Betis that continues a magical start to the
season while Sevilla and Real Sociedad joined a group of four teams just a
point behind the surprise leaders.
Alvaro Vadillo’s smart finish in the 61st minute was enough to give Granada
a sixth win of the season and take advantage of Barcelona not playing this
week to take first place, while fellow Andalusians Betis stay in the
relegation zone.
The win was also their third in their last four matches, all of which have
been single-goal victories.
Vadillo’s strike was his second of the season after he scored the second in
his side’s shock 2-0 win over Barca last month.
“I’m very proud of the players, you know that we’re not looking at the
table, the only thing we see is 20 points,” said Granada coach Diego
Martinez.
“Hopefully we will win more games and we continue improving, but we are
enjoying this ride and the fans are enjoying it with us.”
The four sides trailing Granada are led by Barca, who did not play this
weekend after their ‘El Clasico’ against Real Madrid was postponed amid mass
protests in Catalonia.
Real Sociedad meanwhile are third after winning 1-0 at Celta Vigo earlier
on Sunday thanks to Swedish substitute Alexander Isak scoring the only goal
with eight minutes left.
– Hernandez opens Liga account –
Sevilla joined the pair and Atletico Madrid, who are in fourth after
beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 on Saturday night, on 19 points thanks to a 2-0
home win over Getafe that gave them their third straight win in all
competitions.
Javier Hernandez got the ball rolling in the 69th minute with his first
league goal for his new club when he latched on to Franco Vazquez’s through
ball and slammed home a powerful finish.
Nine minutes later Lucas Ocampos sealed the three points, assisted by a
huge gap in the Getafe defence and Jesus Navas’ through ball, which left him
with the easy task of rounding David Soria and rolling home his third of the
season.
“Getafe are a very tough team and the game was getting very complicated,”
said Hernandez.
“It felt great to score at that time and that we rounded it up with
Ocampos’ good goal.”
Real Madrid are a point further back having also played a game less than
their rivals after the cancellation of their clash with fierce rivals Barca,
whose Catalonia region has been struck by a wave of demonstrations following
the jailing of nine regional leaders.
On Sunday tens of thousands of people marched for Spanish unity in
Barcelona, a day after 350,000 Catalan separatists held a protest.
The match has been rescheduled for December 18 but on Thursday La Liga
revealed they will appeal the Spanish Football Federation’s decision, saying
that they want the match played two weeks before on December 4.
They cited among the reasons for their appeal that the league holds the
responsibility for setting dates due to broadcasting considerations, while
December 18 also clashes with the Copa del Rey.