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Top 5 Teams With Most Shots (On Target)
Deportivo La Coruna - 22 (11)
Almeria - 20 (10)
Real Madrid - 20 (9)
Malaga - 15 (4)
Atletico Madrid - 14 (5)
This week saw a rare buck in trend as two of the more
defensive-minded, goal-shy teams lead the shots count. Even Xerez,
who would normally conjure up no more than a handful of goal
attempts, had ten shots with three on target against Sporting
Gijon. It’s not a jaw-dropping tally, but it is impressive
considering Barcelona had only 13 shots and three on target
themselves against Athletic Bilbao.
Top 5 Players With Most Shots (On Target)
Lassad Nouioui (Deportivo La Coruna) - 7 (3)
Fernando Soriano (Almeria) - 6 (4)
Kalu Uche (Almeria) - 5 (2)
Sidi Yaya Keita (Xerez) - 5 (2)
Jurado (Atletico Madrid) - 5 (2)
Espanyol’s Ivan Alonso was another player who amassed five shots
but none were on target. Valencia hitman, David Villa also had five
attempts, one of which was on target which he managed to convert
into a goal. Villarreal’s Nilmar had the best ratio with four
shots, three on the mark and two goals.
Most Saves
Dudu Aouate (Mallorca) - 9
Sergio Asenjo (Atletico Madrid) - 9
Tono (Racing Santander) - 8
Diego Lopez (Villarreal) - 4
Daniel Aranzubia (Deportivo La Coruna) - 4
Not surprisingly, the two goalkeepers whose team gave away the
most shots had to make the most saves. The two shot-stoppers who
are currently leading the Zamora Trophy race, Iker Casillas and
Victor Valdes, didn’t have a single save to make, although the
Barca custodian did concede a goal against Athletic Bilbao in
what was his opponents' only shot on target.
Tenerife 1-2
Sevilla
- This was Tenerife’s seventh defeat of the season, the joint worst
record in the league along with Malaga.
- El Tete have won just once in their last seven outings.
- Sevilla’s three previous away victories were won without
conceding a goal (2-0 at Xerez, 4-0 at Athletic and 2-0 at
Osasuna).
- Los Nervionenses have eight wins so far after 11 games and on all
eight occasions, they scored the opening goal.
Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 Atletico
Madrid
- This was Depor’s seventh win of the season. Amazingly enough,
this is the first time this term that they have conceded a goal in
a match that they won.
- The Galicians collected three bookings in this game but they
still remain the side with the fewest yellow cards (15).
- Atletico are now on a three-game losing run. The last time they
had a similar streak was between September 28 and October 18 of
2008. Their previous worst sequence was four defeats on the trot
back in early 1999.
- With just seven points from their first 11 games, this is
Atleti’s worst start since 1994/95 when they also had the same
tally of points at this stage.
Real Madrid 1-0
Racing Santander
- The victory, coupled with Barcelona’s draw at Bilbao, sent Los
Blancos top of the league for the first time since 26 September.
They also succeeded in extending their perfect home record to six
wins from six.
- Iker Casillas have now kept seven clean sheets, more than any
other goalkeeper after 11 rounds. Meanwhile, Gonzalo Higuain, who
netted the only goal of the game, joins Cristiano Ronaldo on five
goals as the team’s leading scorer.
- Other than Sergio Canales’ shot which produced the goal that was
ruled out for offside, Racing did not manage a single shot on
target.
- The Cantabrians have now lost their last three league games on
the trot without scoring a goal.
Athletic Bilbao
1-1 Barcelona
- This was Athletic’s first draw at home this campaign.
- The Basque outfit have not beaten the Catalans since May 2006. In
fact, they have only won against them three times in the last 24
league meetings.
- Xavi, who set up Dani Alves’ goal, is now the player with the
most assists (5).
- Barcelona have not won in their last three consecutive away games
in the league having drawn all three. They do remain the only
unbeaten side.
- The Blaugrana have scored the first goal of a match in every game
where they’ve managed to find the back of the net.
Xerez 0-0 Sporting Gijon
- Xerez have gone back to their goal drought having failed to
score in each of their last four league games.
- Cuco Ziganda’s men have only managed three goals so far, none of
which are from open play.
- Sporting, despite being unbeaten in their last six outings, have
an equally poor scoring record having netted just two goals in
their last four games.
Espanyol 0-2 Getafe
- The Blanc-i-Blau have won only once in their last seven games
and they have managed only one goal in their last 360 minutes of
league football.
- This was Espnayol’s second only defeat at home this term,
although they have managed just two wins in their own
backyard.
- As for Getafe, this was their first away victory since the 4-1
win at Racing Santander on opening day.
- El Geta were one of the draw specialists last season with 12
stalemates (second highest) but they are the only team so far this
term yet to draw a match.
Villarreal 3-1 Real
Valladolid
- El Submarino have now won three of their last four league
games.
- Nilmar netted twice in this game. It’s his first double in La
Liga and he now joins Giuseppe Rossi and Robert Pires as his side’s
leading scorer with three goals.
- Despite being the more illustrious side, Villarreal have only
beaten Valladolid four times in their past 11 encounters including
this match, compared to five wins for the Pucelas.
- Valladolid, however, have only managed two wins from their last
22 La Liga games stretching back to last season.
Mallorca 3-1
Almeria
- Mallorca maintained their perfect winning streak at home this
season thanks to two late winning goals.
- The Islanders do not only share a 100 percent record at home with
Real Madrid and Barcelona, but all three also have identical goal
differential (+14) on home soil.
- Almeria are only the second team this season, after Getafe, to
score at the ONO Estadi.
Malaga 1-1 Real
Zaragoza
- This ill-tempered clash saw 44 fouls committed in total (22 for
each side), the highest in this round of games. Both teams also had
one red card each.
- Malaga are still rooted to the foot of the table with just six
points. They have not won in their last ten league games.
- Zaragoza aren’t fairing any better, winning just twice in the
last ten rounds. They are, however, the only team to score in every
single round.
Osasuna 1-3 Valencia
- This was Osasuna’s second home defeat of the season. It’s also
the first time since September 2003 they’ve lost to Valencia at the
Reyno de Navarra.
- In contrast, this was the Mestalla men’s fifth away win in six
games this term, the best record in the league at present.
- David Villa, who netted the opening goal, has now scored nine
goals for Los Che in La Liga, comfortably leading the Pichichi race
ahead of Barcelona duo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, both
on seven.
- David Albelda scored Valencia’s second goal. It was his first
goal for the club since December 2005.
