Atletico go top as Spanish season reaches halfway point

A late goal by Ghanaian midfielder Tomas Partey took Atletico Madrid to the top of the BBVA Primera Liga as the Spanish football season reached its midway point this weekend.

Partey's goal, which came eight minutes from time of an ugly 1-0 win at home to bottom of the table, Levante, coupled with FC Barcelona's inability to beat city rivals, Espanyol, puts Atletico two points clear at the top of the table, all be it with an extra game played.

Atletico's win was built on a solid defense and a destructive midfield and although the Atletico forwards again fired blanks, 72nd minute substitute Tomas came up with the goods following a surging run through the heart of the Levante defense.

Barcelona meanwhile were held 0-0 by neighbors, Espanyol who produced what some will call a 'gutsy' display which others would describe as 'over-physical' to keep Messi, Neymar and company at bay.

Referee Gonzalez Gonzalez, who last week gave Real Madrid two penalties which should not have been awarded, was the man in charge of the game and although he showed Espanyol five yellow cards he could have shown more as they broke up Barca's football with a continued series of fouls.

Nevertheless, Barca have also to look at themselves after creating and missing a series of chances with Messi and Luis Suarez both hitting the post.

Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez is still under pressure after his side drew 2-2 away to Valencia on Sunday night in a game they were lucky to get a point against a Valencia who were better over the 90 minutes.

Benitez's side opened the scoring after a fantastic combination between Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, which ended with the Frenchman scoring, but a poor challenge from Pepe on Andre Gomez allowed Dani Parejo to equalize from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime.

Things got worse for Madrid when Mateo Kovacic was shown a direct red card with 20 minutes remaining, but momentarily it looked as if the three points would go back to the capital when Garth Bale put Madrid back in front with just eight minutes remaining.

Nevertheless Valencia got straight back into the game a minute later thanks to Paco Alcacer and the home side should have won the game only for Alvaro Negrado to waste a chance when clean through on goal with the very last kick of the game.

Goals from Charles and Raul Albentosa gave Malaga their fourth win in four games as they disposed of Celta Vigo 2-0, while Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad are both still in trouble after sharing the points with a 2-2 draw in Rayo's Vallecas Stadium.

The Madrid based outfit twice went in front through Diego Llorente and Jozabed, but Aritz Elustondo and the second goal in a week from Bruma assured the points were shared.

Angel Capa, Keko, Borja Baston and Adrian Gonzalez all got on the scoresheet as Eibar claimed a stunning 4-0 win away to Betis, whose season is in danger of falling apart, while Granada pulled off a surprise 2-1 win at home to Sevilla thanks to goals from Issac Success and Adalberto Penaranda.

Aritz Aduriz and Inaki Williams twice put Athletic Club Bilbao ahead against Las Palmas, who twice drew level through Vicente and Tana following set pieces in a result which allowed Villarreal to tighten their grip on fourth place after a late Bruno Soriano penalty saw them to a 2-1 win away to Deportivo la Coruna. Endit