La Liga Table 2016: Latest Standings and Odds Following Friday's Week 36 Results

Sporting Gijon recorded three vital points in their fight for La Liga survival in Week 36 on Friday, beating Eibar 2-0 at El Molinon.

The hosts entered the tie entangled in a relegation scrap, sitting in 18th place, but breathed fresh air into their escape chances by scoring a goal in each half.

Eibar were the better of the two teams in the opening period but were hit by a hammer blow two minutes from the break, when Carlos Carmona found the back of the net.

Gijon secured the maximum points with less than 10 minutes to play, when Jony tucked away his strike and lifted his side away from danger.

Take a look at the latest standings, odds and a recap of Friday's action:

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	35	26	4	5	102	29	+73	82
2	Atletico Madrid	35	26	4	5	59	16	+43	82
3	Real Madrid	35	25	6	4	104	32	+72	81
4	Villarreal	35	17	10	8	42	31	+11	61
5	Celta Vigo	35	16	9	10	49	55	-6	57
6	Athletic Club	35	16	7	12	53	43	+10	55
7	Sevilla	35	14	10	11	49	42	+7	52
8	Valencia	35	11	11	13	44	42	+2	44
9	Las Palmas	35	12	7	16	42	46	-4	43
10	Malaga	35	10	12	13	31	32	-1	42
11	Eibar	36	11	9	16	46	56	-10	42
12	Real Sociedad	35	11	9	15	42	46	-4	42
13	Real Betis	35	10	11	14	31	48	-17	41
14	Deportivo La Coruna	35	7	18	10	43	57	-14	39
15	Espanyol	35	10	7	18	35	67	-32	37
16	Rayo Vallecano	35	8	11	16	48	69	-21	35
17	Sporting Gijon	36	9	8	19	37	61	-24	35
18	Granada	35	8	9	18	39	63	-24	33
19	Getafe	35	8	8	19	33	64	-31	32
20	Levante	35	7	8	20	33	63	-30	29

Team	Odds
Levante	1-50
Getafe	8-15
Granada	4-6
Sporting Gijon	8-11
Rayo Vallecano	8-1
Espanyol	20-1

Recap

Sporting Gijon stunned mid-table Eibar with a 2-0 home win to boost their chances of avoiding relegation with two matches still to play in La Liga.

It was a slow start to the encounter, with neither side able to maintain retention of the ball. However, it soon became clear which of the two sides had its Primera status secured for the following campaign as the visitors began to test their under-pressure opponents.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

With 20 minutes on the clock, right-winger Jota brought goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar into action with a powerful drive that was well kept out. Moments later, Adrian Gonzalez fired at goal but uncharacteristically dragged his effort wide from Izet Hajrovic’s pass.

Jota then had his side’s best chance of the half following a poor clearance from the Gijon defence. The attacker pounced upon the weak header back to Cuellar but failed to sort his feet before scuffing his shot off target from an increasingly acute angle.

Eibar were in the ascendancy throughout the clash, and it appeared to be only a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken. However, it was at their expense. After some intricate play down the left wing, Jony whipped in an accurate ball for Carmona, who thumped his header past Asier Riesgo against the run of play.

OptaJose revealed how important Jony is to the Sporting team:

"

7 - Jony has provided seven assists in La Liga this season, the most from Sporting player in a season in the 21st Century. Nail

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 29, 2016"

The second 45 minutes were more even, with Sporting growing in confidence after scoring the opener. However, Eibar continued to question their defence and went close on the hour mark, when Adrian’s right-footed shot was well kept out after being put through by Antonio Luna.

With seven minutes to play, Jony put the finishing touches on an impressive performance by scoring his team’s second goal of the evening and securing the three points. A flowing team move eventually saw the 24-year-old attacker put through on goal, and he displayed great composure to make no mistake.

La Liga expert Sid Lowe acknowledged the importance of the result in the fight for survival:

The home win moved Sporting two points clear and up to 17th in the standings with two matches remaining, taking an early advantage over their rivals at the bottom of the table before the rest of the weekend's matches conclude.