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Atletico suffer defeat at Betis in Morata La Liga debut

Defeat

Seville (Spain), Feb. 3, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Atletico Madrid fell to their first La Liga defeat in five months as they were beaten 1-0 at Real Betis on Sunday.

The capital city side therefore missed a golden chance to close the gap with leaders Barcelona and slipping six points adrift of the Catalans.

Alvaro Morata made his debut for Atletico after completing a loan move from Chelsea, but it was another former Real Madrid player in Sergio Canales who made the difference.

He scored a penalty midway through the second half to give Betis a victory which took them up to sixth in the table.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone was without five regular starters but was still able to field what looked to be an exciting, attacking lineup.

Pacey wingers Angel Correa and Thomas Lemar partnered Morata and the talismanic Antoine Griezmann up front.

Barca’s 2-2 draw with Valencia a day earlier had given Atletico the opportunity to move within three points of their title rivals yet they struggled to get a hold on the game.

It took a spectacular save from Jan Oblak to prevent Zouhair Feddal heading Betis in front midway through the first half.

Filipe Luis gave away the penalty which decided the game, striking the ball with his left arm as he attempted to chest it down.

And although Oblak dived the right way, Canales’ spot-kick was too powerful for the Slovenian to reach.

Barca lead the standings on 50 points after 22 games, Atletico are second with 44 while third-placed Real Madrid.

Madrid, who will play at home to Alaves later on Sunday and visit Atletico next week, have 39 points.

“We cannot be happy as we failed to close the gap with Barca.

“It was a very even game, but we can’t afford to dwell any more on this, we have to think about our next game immediately,” said Atletico defender Juanfran.

“No-one here is going to give up because there’s still a long way to go in the season.”

Atletico had a penalty appeal of their own late in the game when Morata went down under a challenge from Feddal.

Griezmann also went closest to scoring for the visitors when he hit the post after the interval.

Atletico had 13 shots at Pau Lopez’s goal, but only managed to hit the target once, losing for the first time in the league since going down to a 2-0 defeat at Celta Vigo on Sept. 1.

“Both teams had few chances and we couldn’t find a solution as the minutes ticked down,” said Simeone.

“Morata had a good game considering it was his first game and we hope he will be able to contribute more to the team the longer he spends with us.

“I’m trying to be optimistic, at least we are only six points behind as Barca drew, and the distance could have been bigger.” (Reuters/NAN)

KIA/MZA

 

Sport

Messi returns with double but Barca lose at home to Real Betis 

La Liga

Barcelona (Spain), Nov. 12, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Lionel Messi scored twice on his eagerly-awaited return but La Liga leaders FC Barcelona were still left shell-shocked by a scintillating Real Betis side.

They beat Barca at their own game of possession football to win 4-3 at the Nou Camp on Sunday.

The club from Seville began the match in 16th place but produced an irresistible performance in becoming the first team to win at Barca’s home in any competition since 2016.

They were also the first to score four goals there in 15 years.

Barca’s defeat, at the hands of a team that had lost three of their previous four league outings, was compounded by the sending-off of their midfielder Ivan Rakitic after 81 minutes.

They are now just one point clear at the top of La Liga on 24 points after 12 games, one point clear of Atletico Madrid, Alaves and Sevilla.

Sevilla came from behind in the second half to beat Espanyol 2-1 at home with an 89th-minute goal from Wissam Ben Yedder.

Betis’s livewire winger Junior gave the visitors a deserved lead in the 20th minute, finishing off a hugely impressive counter-attack that had started in their own penalty area.

Captain Joaquin then doubled their lead in the 35th after another venture down the wing from Junior.

Messi, back in action after a three-week absence with a broken arm, pulled Barca back into the game by converting a penalty kick midway through the second half.

Yet Betis restored their two-goal cushion through Giovani Lo Celso with the help of an uncharacteristic error from Barca’s usually reliable goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

He fumbled Lo Celso’s shot into the net.

Arturo Vidal quickly responded with a goal down the other end but Barca were suddenly left with 10 men when Croatian midfielder Rakitic was dismissed for a second booking.

Former Real Madrid forward Sergio Canales soon made it 4-2 to Betis, sliding to the floor to knock in a pass from the electric Junior.

Messi scored from close range in stoppage time but Betis hung on to clinch a first league win at the Nou Camp since 1998.

“We will enjoy this victory and the joy and satisfaction we have given to Betis fans who follow their team every day.

“Winning here and scoring four goals is something you will never forget,” said Betis coach Quique Setien.

“When you come here, you always expect to suffer. But we knew if we showed character and overcame the stress, we could play well and have the ball.

“Moreover, Barca are a team that suffers without the ball and struggles to get it back.”

The atmosphere at the Nou Camp at kick-off was lifted by the return of Messi.

The team captain broke his arm against Sevilla three weeks ago, even though the Catalans had since won four and drawn one of their five games without their all-time top goalscorer.

The Argentinian came close to scoring in the opening minute but failed to properly connect with the ball and Betis quickly asserted themselves.

They seriously challenged FC Barcelona for ball possession, which was the rarest of sights for opponents at the Nou Camp.

Betis had squandered several chances before Junior broke the deadlock.

However, it took an outstanding save from visiting goalkeeper Pau Lopez, formerly of Barca’s neighbours Espanyol, to prevent Clement Lenglet from levelling before Joaquin made it 2-0.

Barca coach Ernesto Valverde took off midfielder Arthur for Vidal at the start of the second half to give his side more dynamism.

But they continued to squander scoring chances and Betis showed no remorse.

“The problem was that we did not play well, we did not control the game and we kept on making mistakes which is why we were behind at halftime,” said the coach.

“In the second half, every time we scored and got back in the game they struck back immediately.”(Reuters/NAN)
VO/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

La Liga: Messi, Suarez lead Barca’s 5-0 romp at Real Betis

NAN-S-18
Crushing
Abuja, Jan. 21, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) FC Barcelona rode further away from their crumbling title rivals on Sunday as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored twice each in a 5-0 thrashing of Real Betis.

The emphatic win opened up an 11-point gap at the top of the La Liga standings.

A strike from Ivan Rakitic broke the home side’s resistance in the 58th minute.

Top goalscorer Messi and the in-form Suarez took turns in adding to the scoring to cap a sixth successive league win for Ernesto Valverde’s imperious team.

Barca, the only unbeaten side in Europe’s top five leagues, lead the way with 54 points.

This was after capitalising on second-placed Atletico Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Girona on Saturday and third-placed Valencia’s 2-1 defeat at Las Palmas.

Betis went into the game having scored eight goals in their last two league matches but had few opportunities against Barca.

The league leaders turned on the style in the second half as they have done so often in this dominant campaign.

It took a clever rolled pass from Suarez to release Rakitic for the opening goal, which the Croatian dispatched confidently.

Messi then took full advantage of a slack Betis offside trap to slot the second.

The Argentine’s second strike moved him on to 19 league goals while Suarez’s brace took him to 15, 10 of them coming in his last seven La Liga games.(Reuters/NAN)
VO/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)