La Liga Results 2014 Week 10: Tracking Final Scores and Top Scorers for Matchday
The top stars in Spanish football once again took to the pitch in Week 10 of the 2014-15 La Liga season, with another full slate of fixtures on the schedule.
A 1-0 defeat at home to Celta Vigo saw Barcelona surrender the Spanish summit, with Real Madrid taking their place after a 4-0 thumping of Granada.
Sevilla could have taken top spot as their own but failed to capitalise with a loss at Athletic Bilbao, while Valencia continued their run up the rankings.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
The schedule for Matchday 10:
| Friday, Oct. 31 | Deportivo La Coruna | 1 - 2 | Getafe |
| Saturday, Nov. 1 | Granada | 0 - 4 | Real Madrid |
| Saturday, Nov. 1 | Atletico Madrid | 4 - 2 | Cordoba |
| Saturday, Nov. 1 | Barcelona | 0 - 1 | Celta Vigo |
| Saturday, Nov. 1 | Real Sociedad | 0 - 1 | Malaga |
| Sunday, Nov. 2 | Athletic Bilbao | 1 - 0 | Sevilla |
| Sunday, Nov. 2 | Villarreal | 1 - 3 | Valencia |
| Sunday, Nov. 2 | Levante | 2 - 1 | Almeria |
| Sunday, Nov. 2 | Elche | 2 - 1 | Espanyol |
| Monday, Nov. 3 | Athletic Bilbao | v | Sevilla |
The updated La Liga standings:
| 1 | Real Madrid | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 10 | +27 | 24 |
| 2 | Valencia | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 23 |
| 3 | Atlético Madrid | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 23 |
| 4 | Barcelona | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 4 | +19 | 22 |
| 5 | Sevilla | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 10 | +7 | 22 |
| 6 | Celta Vigo | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 19 |
| 7 | Málaga | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 18 |
| 8 | Villarreal | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 14 |
| 9 | Eibar | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 13 |
| 10 | Getafe | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 13 |
| 11 | Athletic Bilbao | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 11 |
| 12 | Rayo Vallecano | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 11 |
| 13 | Espanyol | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 10 |
| 14 | Almería | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 9 |
| 15 | Granada | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 17 | −11 | 9 |
| 16 | Deportivo La Coruña | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 8 |
| 17 | Elche | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 22 | −12 | 8 |
| 18 | Levante | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 24 | −18 | 8 |
| 19 | Real Sociedad | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 6 |
| 20 | Córdoba | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 5 |
La Liga's top scorers:
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 17 |
| 2 | Neymar | Barcelona | 9 |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 7 |
| Carlos Bacca | Sevila | 7 | |
| Joaquin Larrivey | Celta Vigo | 7 | |
| 6 | Leo Baptistao | Rayo Vallecano | 6 |
| 7 | Nolito | Celta Vigo | 5 |
| 8 | Paco Alcacer | Valencia | 4 |
| Alberto Bueno | Rayo Vallecano | 4 | |
| Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 4 |
Leo Baptistao Fails to Save Rayo Vallecano's Blushes
Rayo Vallecano made a valiant second-half effort to come back from a two-goal deficit against Eibar on Monday evening, However, the home outfit were unable to win their mid-table clash after Mikel Arruabarrena scored in the 86th minute to win the tie 3-2.
Arruabarrena scored the fixture's first goal of the fixture from the spot after Nacho Martinez fouled an Eibar player in the box to gift the visitors their penalty opportunity.
Just four minutes into the second period, Eibar continued to swing momentum in their favour through Federico Piovaccari's finish, but Leo Baptistao stormed back to net a 60-second brace.
David Cartlidge of beIN Sports and and OptaJose went into further detail on the attacker's penchant for netting in doubles this season:
Rayo couldn't hold on, though, and Arruabarrena finished a flowing move to seal the match for Eibar, who move two places above their opponents into ninth place as a result.
Sunday Recap
Valencia remain hot on the tails of Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga title after a 3-1 win over Villarreal on Sunday.
Manuel Trigueros' own goal gave the visitors the lead after just six minutes, and while Villarreal put up a good fight in the first half, Valencia were in control of the match going into half-time.
Centre-back Shkodran Mustafi scored an unlikely brace 10 minutes apart in the second half, taking advantage of the hosts' inability to defend set pieces, before Trigueros scored a late consolation goal.
Pablo Piatti praised his teammates efficiency in what was a difficult match for Valencia, as reported by Inside Spanish Football's Heath Chesters:
"I think they had a lot more possession than us, but we showed quality when it came to taking our chances on goal. I think we’ve worked hard when it came to our defending and we kept our lines tightly closed.
I don’t think they were expecting us to score the second goal and then we killed the game with the third. After that I think we relaxed a little, but I have to highlight the great work we’ve done as a team.
"
With the win, Valencia climb to second place in the standings, level with Atletico Madrid and just one point behind league-leaders Real.
The one team unable to take advantage of Barcelona's loss to Celta Vigo was Sevilla, who suffered a shock loss themselves at Athletic Bilbao.
Aritz Aduriz scored the only goal early in the match, and despite a strong spell of possession for the visitors in the second half, the Basques kept control of the match and denied Sevilla to move up to the top spot in the standings.
Aymeric Laporte played a big part in the result with an excellent defensive performance, something FourFourTwo's Alex Chaffer also noticed:
David Barral and Victor Casadesus gave Levante only their second win of the season, a crucial three-pointer as Les Granotes seek to avoid the drop in 2014-15. Beating Almeria 2-1, the hosts leap over Real Sociedad and Cordoba in the standings, becoming one of the biggest winners of the weekend.
Jonathas gave Elche a 2-0 lead before the hosts lost two players to red cards in 10 minutes, opening the door for an Espanyol comeback. Cristian Stuani pulled one back for the visitors from the penalty spot, but despite a late onslaught, the hosts held on for a 2-1 win.
Like Levante, Elche leapfrog Sociedad and Cordoba, picking up three massive points as the race to avoid relegation took a surprising twist on Sunday.
Saturday Recap
Real Madrid recorded their 11th straight win in dominant fashion on Saturday, thrashing Granada 4-0. La Liga top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo was on point as usual, scoring in his 12th consecutive match, per BBC Sport:
It took the Portugal international less than two minutes to draw first blood, after Dani Carvajal had launched a swift counter and Karim Benzema found Ronaldo in the box. Carvajal nearly made it 2-0 minutes later, firing his shot over the bar.
Los Blancos dominated possession and doubled their advantage after 30 minutes, James Rodriguez converting a sublime volley from just inside the box.
Granada could do nothing to stop the Real onslaught, and the only blip on the radar for the visitors was an injury to Carvajal, who was replaced by Alvaro Arbeloa. Benzema made it 3-0 in the 54th minute, freed up by a beautiful back-heel pass from Ronaldo.
The Vine, via RMFutbolOnline:
Rodriguez then scored his second of the match to put the final score on the board. As shared by ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, Los Blancos are now the first team in La Liga history to score 20 goals in their first five away matches:
Carlo Ancelotti had nothing but praise for the duo of Rodriguez and Ronaldo after the match,, while also discussing the eventual return of Gareth Bale, via Goal's Stefan Coerts:
"James scored a fantastic goal and Cristiano Ronaldo gave a fine assist for Karim. It's getting harder and harder to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo. He is a fantastic player.
Everyone seems to think Bale is a problem for Madrid, but I think he will only help us get even better. I am very happy with how the team has been playing, but we must continue to search for something extra.
"
Atletico Madrid faced a surprising amount of resistance from relegation-threatened Cordoba, battling to a 4-2 win. Antoine Griezmann put the hosts in front late in the first half and did so again after 58 minutes, after Nabil Ghilas had equalised for the visitors.
Granada resisted Atletico's push for a third goal for as long as they could, but Mario Mandzukic's goal in the 62nd minute appeared to ice the match. Raul Garcia made it 4-1, and Ghilas bagged his second late in the match.
Barcelona were shocked by in-form Celta Vigo at home, with Joazuin Larrivey firing the visitors to a 1-0 win. ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan believes the Catalans' season is quickly spiraling out of control:
The Blaugrana had plenty of chances to get on the scoreboard themselves, hitting the woodwork four times, but overall, the Galacians weren't undeserving of the win. Fresh off a loss to Real Madrid in El Clasico, Luis Enrique's squad looked unbalanced, as they tried to force the issue too many times.
Luis Suarez is not to blame for the current struggles, as he's put together several solid performances so far, but there's no denying the squad looks uncomfortable playing with the Uruguayan up front right now.
As shared by football writer Graham Hunter, the win was a big deal for Vigo:
With the loss, Barcelona drop out of the top spot in the standings and all the way to third, and if Sevilla and Valencia win their fixtures on Sunday, Enrique's troops could sink as low as fifth.
Juanmi scored the only goal in Malaga's 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, as the visitors picked up three vital points in the race for the European spots.
Friday Recap
Deportivo la Coruna's 2014-15 struggles continued on Friday with a 2-1 loss at home against Getafe.
The hosts looked toothless in attack from the opening whistle and were shaky at the back, but it took until the 35th minute for Getafe to open the scoring. Karim Yoda's shot stranded on the post and caught the unfortunate Julian Fabri, who watched in horror as the ball rolled into his own net.
As shared by OptaJose, it wasn't the first time the visitors took advantage of an own goal in a fixture against Deportivo:
La Coruna looked shell-shocked but managed to hold off Getafe's attempts to double the lead in the first half, only to concede minutes after half-time.
Angel Lafita timed his run into the box perfectly and gave Fabri no chance from close range, scoring the easiest of tap-ins. It was the first time the 30-year-old scored against one of his former teams, via OptaJose:
Getafe had a handful of chances to deepen the lead even further, but Fabri was determined to make up for his earlier error and stood firm. With 20 minutes left to play, momentum slowly started to change.
Helder Postiga restored hope to the hometown fans with 10 minutes left to play, but despite a late push, Deportivo couldn't find the equaliser. Victor Fernandez and his players left the pitch as the Riazor grumbled, not satisfied with the hosts' performance.
Cosmin Contra asked his players to be more efficient in front of goal, as reported by Inside Spanish Football's Heath Chesters, and with a little help from the Deportivo stopper, that's exactly what they did:
"We could do with scoring more goals and that’s something we’re working on every day. The team gets forward, in and around the area well, but we’re not scoring enough goals. Without taking our chances, it’s difficult to win games. If we show the kind of mentality we had against Atletico though, plus a little more precision, we’ll see the little more of what I want to see from Getafe.
"
Getafe sit safely in the middle part of the standings, enjoying exactly the kind of season club officials would have hoped for. Under Contra, the squad is playing solid, organised football, and the results have followed.
The same can't be said for Deportivo, who at this stage of the season shouldn't be as close to the relegation zone as they currently are.
The Galicians have the talent to do much better, but an inability to win matches against lesser competition at home is costing them. Time may be running out for Fernandez if things don't change soon.
