Sevilla climb to second place in Spanish league
Madrid, Dec 18 (IANS) Sevilla temporarily moved into second place in the Primera Liga with a thumping 4-1 win over Malaga.
The Jorge Sampaoli managed side climbed above reigning champions FC Barcelona on Saturday night, reports Xinhua news agency.
The game was as good as over by halftime thanks to some effective attacking play from Sevilla and some chaotic defending from Malaga.
Luciano Vietto scored twice to put Sevilla 2-0 up and Ben Yedder and Vitolo sealed the win when they made it 4-0 before halftime.
Sandro Ramirez’s free kick on 60 minutes made it 4-1 after Adil Rami had been sent off for two yellow cards, but there was no further change to the score in the remaining half hour and Sevilla close to within four points of Real Madrid.
Villarreal will spend the holiday season in the fourth place following their 3-1 win away to Sporting Gijon, who in turn will go into the New Year in the relegation zone.
Villarreal were the better side from start to finish and opened the scoring through Jonathan Dos Santos after 11 minutes before Nicola Sansome’s 6th goal of the season doubled their lead in the 19t minute.
Sporting coach Aberlado Fernandez made a double substitution 10 minutes from halftime to try and turn things around, but when Alejandro Pato capped an excellent individual display 15 minutes from time there was no doubt where the points were heading despite Carlos Carmona’ s late consolation for Sporting.
Atletico Madrid got back to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 win at home to an impressive Las Palmas, who controlled much of the play, but were unable to produce a finish, with the result that Saul Niguez’s 25-yard shot on the hour was the only goal of the game and enough to give Atletico three points they hardly deserved.
Real Sociedad also kept up the pace in fifth at the expense of Granada with second half goals from Jon Bautista and Juanmi giving them all three points against the side second from bottom of the table.
Barcelona eye permanent deal for Brazilian defender Santos
Rio de Janeiro, Dec 18 (IANS) Barcelona have begun negotiations with Brazil’s Fluminense to secure a permanent deal for on-loan defender Marlon Santos, according to media reports.
The 21-year-old centre-back is said to have impressed Barcelona coach Luis Enrique since joining the Catalan club in July on a one-year loan, reports Xinhua news agency.
After a string of impressive performances for the Barcelona B team, Santos was promoted to the first-team squad last month and made his debut as a second-half substitute in the Catalan giants’ 2-0 away victory over Celtic in the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona are hoping to secure Santos on a long-term contract for two million euros, Globo Esporte reported.
A product of Vasco da Gama’s youth academy, Marlon joined Fluminense in 2013 and made 69 appearances for the Rio de Janeiro club. He has represented Brazil at U-20 and U-23 level.
