Getafe thump Betis 3-0 to go top of LaLiga
Getafe, Spain, Sep 29 (efe-epa).- Real Betis fell 3-0 here Tuesday to Getafe, who vaulted to first place in LaLiga with 7 points from three matches.
The visitors dropped to third on 6 points four games into a Spanish top-flight season that has been slow to ramp up as traditional powerhouses Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid started late because of their participation in Champions League.
New acquisition Cucho Hernandez emerged as the playmaker for the hosts. The Colombian was at the center of the Getafe attack and assisted on all three of his team’s goals.
The long interruption of the 2019-2020 campaign due to Covid-19 was not kind to Getafe, who climbed to third place in February only to finish eighth after struggling during the restart.
But the side appear to have put that behind them and are back to their hard-nosed, opportunistic style.
Betis, with 70 percent possession, never posed any serious threat, while the hosts turned all of their chances into goals.
“They arrived three times and they converted three goals,” Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini said afterward.
Getafe took the lead in the 13th minute. Cucho set the play in motion with a precision header to Allan Nyom, who got the ball to Angel Rodriguez for the first of what would turn out to be two goals on the night.
The goal was upheld after a VAR check showed that Betis defender Alex Moreno played the attacker onside.
Despite having the lion’s share of the ball, Betis were denied the time and space to create. Marc Bartra tried his luck from distance and Getafe goalkeeper David Soria had a quiet game apart from having to stop a Sergio Canales free kick late in the first half.
Marc Cucurella made it 2-0 for Getafe with a blast from outside the 18-yard box in the 39th minute, three minutes before Angel completed his brace.
In Tuesday’s other contest, visiting Valencia topped Real Sociedad 1-0 on a goal by Maxi Gomez and a solid performance by keeper Jaume Domenech.
Sociedad’s Alex Isak had a great chance to give his side the edge in the 14th minute, only to see his shot scuff the cross-bar. Valencia’s best opportunity of the first half came just before the break as Jose Luis Gaya released Lee Kang-in, who would have scored if not for the timely intervention of defender Aritz Elustondo.
The San Sebastian team were much improved in the second half, as Mikel Merino, Adnan Januzaj and former Man City man David Silva kept Valencia largely penned up in their end.
Domenech denied Januzaj on two occasions, the second a free kick, before the Belgian went off in the 66th minute.
There were only 16 minutes left in regulation when Gaya got the ball to Maxi Gomez behind the Sociedad defense and the Uruguayan posted his third goal of the season.
Robin Le Normand appeared to equalize for Sociedad deep in stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed for a Elustondo hand ball and Valencia moved up to second in LaLiga on 7 points from four matches.
Sociedad are fifth, with 5 points from four games. EFE
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