La Liga Table 2015: Latest Standings Following Friday's Week 2 Results
Villarreal played dreadful football for 60 minutes but managed to beat Espanyol 3-1 in Week 2 of the 2015-16 La Liga season regardless, grabbing their first win of the season and the lead in the standings.
The clash between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla will undoubtedly steal the spotlights in Week 2, but Friday's match between Espaynol and Villarreal looked like it had all of the ingredients to be a great one as well.
The Yellow Submarines are gunning for a spot in Europe next year, but their Catalan opponents never make things easy on anyone, and it showed on Friday. Here are the latest La Liga standings:
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| 1 | Villarreal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 |
| 2 | Eibar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 3 | Celta Vigo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 5 | Barcelona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 6 | Espanyol | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| 7 | Real Betis | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Valencia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Deportivo La Coruna | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Sevilla | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Real Sociedad | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Malaga | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Real Madrid | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Sporting Gijon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Rayo Vallecano | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Levante | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 17 | Las Palmas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 18 | Athletic Club | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 19 | Getafe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 20 | Granada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
Recap
Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu turned a dreadful situation around for Sevilla, who conceded early at home to Espanyol and were in real danger of dropping points against the Catalan side. The Yellow Submarine recovered in time, however, grabbing their first win of the season.
Felipe Caicedo gave the visitors the lead after just six minutes, finishing off a nice team move by sprinting away from the defence.
As shared by BeIN Sports' Chris Moar, the Ecuador international has had plenty of success against the Yellow Submarine over the course of his career:
"Caicedo loves playing against Villarreal - he's scored more goals against them (4) than any other ESP club. His last 6mths have been great.
— Chris (@MoarFootball) August 28, 2015"
Villarreal were clearly shocked by the early deficit, but that shouldn't be an excuse for the dreadful performance they put together in the first half. The hosts looked slow and uninspired, and with Espanyol locking things up at the back, they couldn't even come close to Pau Lopez's goal.
The Catalan goalkeeper was clearly adamant to defend his team's one-goal lead by any means necessary, and incredible enough, that meant time wasting as soon as Caicedo's shot found the back of the net.
Just 10 minutes in, he received his first warning, and 10 minutes later, he had been booked, via AS English:
Not that it really mattered: Villarreal were toothless in the first half, and Espanyol comfortably defended their lead. Moar liked what he saw from the visitors, though he was less impressed with the Yellow Submarine:
"Impeccable half from Espanyol. Defending great as a cohesive unit & their goal was a superb combination from the new CF pairing.
— Chris (@MoarFootball) August 28, 2015"
The trend continued after half-time, as the hosts continued to struggle in midfield and failed to move the ball into the danger zones. Espanyol appeared to be cruising to an easy win, their second of the season, until former Tottenham Hotspur striker Soldado brought his team back on level terms with an acrobatic volley.
As you might imagine, social media had a blast. Bet365 joined in on the fun:
Suddenly, Villarreal found their form, and the squad started to push forward. Bakambu pounced on a delightful through-ball and reached the ball before Lopez did, playing it around the goalkeeper before slotting home the 2-1. Minutes later, the 24-year-old added a second goal.
With Leo Baptistao showing little of note in this match, Bakambu may have won himself a spot in the starting XI when the Yellow Submarine visit Granada in Week 3.
Real Madrid will look for their first win of the season when they host Real Betis on Saturday, while Barcelona host Malaga. On Sunday, Atletico Madrid visit Sevilla in an early battle between clubs vying for a spot in the top four, while Valencia host Deportivo la Coruna.
