Alex Freeman was the American star of the weekend in the Spanish La Liga, despite Villarreal’s 1-0 lose to Real Madrid away.
Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal CF
Real Madrid secured the three points as they hosted Villarreal on Saturday night thanks to Yan Diomande’s goal. Freeman played the full 90 minutes, winning two duels, making three interceptions, and completing seven tackles, one of them being goal-impeding one in the first half. Diomande had a difficult first 45 minutes and had to move to the right wing after halftime.
The Ivorian winger was the other protagonist of the match, as he scored the winning goal in the 63rd minute.
Vinicius had scored the hosts’s second goal after a good pass from Bellingham, but it was disallowed after the referee had seen that the Brazilian winger had pull Nathan Saliba’s hair prior to the goal.
With this result, Alex Freeman’s Villarreal remain in the 11th position with eight points, and will host Napoli in the Champions League next Tuesday.
Deportivo Alavés 1-2 Atlético De Madrid
Johnny Cardoso‘s Atleti move up to the second position after beating Alavés away 2-1.
The USMNT midfielder played the full 90 minutes and was one of the stars of the game, completing 98.5% passing, winning 100% of his defensive duels and completing three dribbles.
Alejandro Grimaldo scored first for Simeone’s team, but Lucas Boyé equalized for Alavés from the penalty spot right before halftime.
Atleti had a man advantage from the 61st minute following Ángel Pérez’s red card for Alavés.
In the 87th minute, Argentinian defender Cuti Romero secured the win for the Rojiblancos.
Next up for Atleti is a Champions League game as they will host Manchester United.
Notes
Pellegrino Matarazzo‘s Real Sociedad beat Deportivo De A Coruña in a crazy 3-2 win that moves them move up to 6th place in the standings. They will travel to Belgium to face Union St-Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday.
In the Second Division, both Nicholas Gioacchini and Konrad De La Fuente have suffered knee injuries prior to the international break and will be sidelined for a few months.
In Segunda Federación, Xanti Oyharçabal played 86 minutes in CD Basconia’s 1-1 draw away to SD Eibar B.
USA U20 international Axel Pérez played the full 90 minutes in Castellón B’s 2-1 defeat away to Poblense.
Cameron Williams played the entire game in CP Mijas Las Lagunas’ 3-1 win over Sevilla Atlético.
Down in Tercera Federación, defender Keller Storlie played the full match in Palencia’s 5-1 victory vs. Salamanca B.