La Liga Results 2014: Tracking Final Scores and Top Scorers for Matchday 5
The 2014-15 La Liga season is in full swing, with Matchdays 5 and 6 following each other in quick succession.
Barcelona dropped points for the first time this season on Wednesday evening, giving up their place at the table's summit to Sevilla thanks to their 0-0 stalemate in Andalusia, Malaga somehow managing to evade Luis Enrique's outfit unscathed.
That result opens a new dynamic at the top of the table, Matchday 5's fixtures thus far panning out as such:
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| Sept. 23 | Real Madrid | 5-1 | Elche |
| Sept. 23 | Celta Vigo | 2-1 | Deportivo la Coruna |
| Sept. 24 | Almeria | 0-1 | Atletico Madrid |
| Sept. 24 | Eibar | 1-1 | Villarreal |
| Sept. 24 | Rayo Vallecano | 2-1 | Athletic Bilbao |
| Sept. 24 | Granada | 0-1 | Levante |
| Sept. 24 | Malaga | 0-0 | Barcelona |
| Sept. 24 | Sevilla | 1-0 | Real Sociedad |
| Sept. 25 | Espanyol | 2-0 | Getafe |
| Sept. 25 | Valencia | 3-0 | Cordoba |
La Liga's current top scorers can be viewed below:
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 9 |
| Gareth Bale | 4 |
| Alberto Bueno | 4 |
| Carlos Bacca | 4 |
| Paco Alcacer | 4 |
| Fabian Orellana | 3 |
| Nolito | 3 |
| Joao Miranda | 3 |
| Lionel Messi | 3 |
| Neymar | 3 |
La Liga's Matchday 5 ended with two more fixtures on Thursday, as Espanyol hosted Getafe before Cordoba took on Valencia.
Espanyol finally recorded their first win of the season, beating Getafe 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Sergio Garcia and Cristian Stuani.
The first 30 minutes went off without any major incidents, before both clubs started opening up play. The hosts dominated possession but Getafe had several chances on the counter, before Garcia blasted home in the 66th minute.
Getafe pushed forward in search of an equaliser but couldn't turn the pressure into real chances, and in the 82nd minute, substitute Stuani scored his team's second of the night with an easy finish from close range.
As shared by Real Madrid TV's Phil Kitromilides, it took the Catalans six months to record another win, while Getafe might be in early trouble in the battle against relegation:
Valencia continued their hot start to the 2014-15 season and tied Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table with a 3-0 win over Cordoba to close out Matchday 5.
The inevitable Paco Alcacer struck again to give the hosts the lead with a phenomenal header, and Jose Gaya doubled their advantage just five minutes later with a phenomenal strike.
Cordoba were powerless to stop Valencia, who made it 3-0 through Sofiane Feghouli with 15 minutes left to play. That goal gave them the La Liga lead over the Blaugrana on goal advantage, per author Sid Lowe:
Valencia couldn't have asked for a better start to the season, while Cordoba remain in last position in the La Liga standings and could be on their way back to the Segunda Division just one year after securing promotion.
La Liga wasn't exactly flush with goals on Wednesday as only two of the six games on display produced more than two goals, but in a way the slight differentials only injected more drama in the title implications.
Barca and Sevilla each kicked off in Wednesday's late fixtures, bringing an even greater excitement to their outcomes, and the Blaugrana's scoreless draw against Malaga was capitalised upon by Unai Emery's high flyers.
What's more intriguing is that Gerard Deulofeu, on loan from the Camp Nou, was the man to score Sevilla's sole effort against Real Sociedad, dethroning his parent club in the process, per OptaJose:
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid and Levante also claimed tight 1-0 victories over Almeria and Granada, respectively, representing the former's first win in three games while the latter were lifted out of the bottom three.
Joao Miranda continued his prolific run as Atleti's top scorer this season with the only score for Diego Simeone's side, further vindicating the thought that Diego Costa' exit may have a bigger impact on the side's attacking threat than first thought.
Humble as ever, though, the centre-back insists the team comes before any individual congratulations:
The only Wednesday night fixtures in which both teams got on the scoresheet came through Ray Vallecano's 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, Eibar drawing 1-1 at home to Villarreal.
Leo Baptistao, on loan from the Vicente Calderon, got his campaign off the mark with both goals for Rayo, the hosts having initially fallen behind to an Aritz Arduriz strike in the 20th minute.
Of the six home teams, only Vallecano and Sevilla managed to exploit home advantage and take all three points in what was a hugely impacting day for the standings.
Celta Vigo defeated Deportivo la Coruna 2-1 in the Galician derby, capping off a goal-filled Tuesday.
Real Madrid continued their scoring escapades on Tuesday, beating Elche 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo was in the centre of the action, causing a penalty that gave the lead to the visitors before scoring four goals of his own.
Edu Albacar didn't miss from the spot after a very light foul from the Portuguese superstar, but the official would later return the favour on the other end of the pitch. Gareth Bale equalised with a fine header within five minutes of the opening goal, and per AS, the Welshman made history with his fine effort:
Ronaldo went on to score a brace before half-time, converting a penalty for a non-existent foul on Marcelo before directing a powerful header past Manu Herrera. SportsCenter couldn't believe the form the forward is in:
His dominance continued in the second half, scoring a second penalty before converting from close range after a beautiful through-ball from Bale. Bleacher Report's Karl Matchett knows who his favourite to win this year's scoring title is:
Carlo Ancelotti believes Ronaldo's spell on the sidelines due to injury is the main reason he's been playing so well lately, via ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan:
La Masia had a big influence on the Galician derby, as the two first scorers were both graduates of Barcelona's famed youth academy. Nolito deservedly opened the scoring for Vigo, who dominated the first half.
La Coruna started the second half on fire, however, and Isaac Cuenca equalised for the visitors after 10 minutes. This appeared to wake up the hosts, who regained the lead after 72 minutes through Joaquin Larrivey. Dermot Corrigan was impressed by his performance:
Deportivo were given life when the official awarded them a penalty for a handball by Gustavo Cabral in the final minute, but Haris Medunjanin saw his effort saved by Sergio Alvarez.
La Liga action will return on Wednesday with seven matches, including the highly anticipated clashes between Malaga and league-leaders Barcelona, along with Real Sociedad's trip to Sevilla.
