La Liga wrap: Sevilla´s struggles continue

Struggling Sevilla went down at home to Espanyol, while Villarreal tightened their grip on a Champions League place on Saturday in La Liga.

Sevilla, who finished fourth last season, gave up a brace to Jose Callejon and had only an injury-time goal to Alvaro Negredo to show for their efforts.

The loss – Sevilla’s sixth from the past eight league fixtures – leaves Gregorio Manzano’s men stranded in 10th place on the La Liga table and a massive 23 points behind leaders Barcelona.

Callejon opened his account in the 41st minute after being picked out alone in the area by a long ball, despite the hint of offside.

The Real Madrid youth graduate nabbed his second 12 minutes from time in much the same fashion, again slipping behind Sevilla’s defence to poke past a despairing Javi Varas.

Negredo was the beneficiary of a missed handball call before his injury-time strike, with the Spaniard bobbling a pass off his forearm before volleying into the right corner of the net.

Meanwhile, third-placed Villarreal encountered some difficulty against a visiting Osasuna outfit, eventually running out 4-2 winners after Cani, Joan Capdevila and Gonzalo struck in the second half.

Argentine striker Marco Ruben nodded the hosts into the lead in the 23rd minute, but Hungary international Krisztian Vadocz squared things up two minutes after the break when he headed in a corner kick from the near post.

A piece of individual brilliance from Cani put Villarreal back in front three minutes later. Spotting Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo off his line, the midfielder hit a first-time strike from the half-way line over the veteran shot-stopper’s head and into the net.

Spain international Capdevila made it 3-1 in the 65th minute with a header on the goal-line, and Argentine defender Gonzalo responded to Javier Calleja’s 71st-minute goal with one of his own 13 minutes later as Osasuna again came undone in a set piece.

In other results, Athletic Bilbao improved to sixth on the table with a 2-1 win over 10-man Racing Santander, whose winless run now stretches to four matches.

Sporting Gijon leapt out of the relegation places with a 2-0 win over Hercules, Real Sociedad ended a run of four straight losses with a 4-0 thumping at Getafe and Real Zaragoza trumped Levante 1-0 in a battle of the cellar-dwellers.