Villa-inspired Valencia remain top

October 20, 2008

Valencia remain top, El Derbi madrileño yet again went the way of Real, and Villarreal and Sevilla are both still unbeaten.

Los Che convincingly turned Numancia over, scoring four without reply. The win, which included a David Villa brace allowed Valencia to open up a two point gap over Villareal who were held to a goalless draw on Saturday.

The resurgent Samuel Eto’o scored the only goal in Bilbao as Barca took all the points against the struggling Athletic, who slipped three places after Sporting and Betis both picked up good wins at home against Osasuna and Mallorca respectively.

Sevilla kept their unbeaten start to the season intact and climbed into second as they defeated Almeria 1-0 at Mediterraneo Stadium. With that loss, Almeria have been almost caught by Málaga who triumphed 2-1 against visitors Getafe.

Real Valladolid avoided a third straight loss as they dug deep for a late draw against Recreativo Huelva, Manuel Victor equalising in the 90th minute for the home side.

Elsewhere in another stalemate, Racing Santander, who had Peter Luccin dismissed in the latter stages, Held Depor to a goalless draw.

Meanwhile in Madrid on Saturday the game looked to be heading for a draw when Simao Sabrosa’s late free-kick cancelled out Ruud van Nistelrooy’s opener, which put Real ahead after just 34 seconds. Both teams had men sent off before the break, Luis Perea was shown a straight red card for lashing out and van Nistelrooy was dismissed for a late tackle. It was the 94th minute of play when the referee awarded los merengues a penalty, Gonzalo Higuain kept his cool from the spot to give Real the win and the local bragging rights over the rojiblancos.

Weekend’s Results:
Almería 0-1 Sevilla
Athletic 0-1 Barcelona
Málaga 2-1 Getafe
Betis 3-0 Mallorca
Sporting 2-1 Osasuna
Racing 0-0 Deportivo
Valencia 4-0 Numancia
Valladolid 1-1 Recreativo
Atlético 1-2 Real Madrid
Espanyol 0-0 Villarreal

Top of the table:

1.   Valencia    19
2.   Sevilla       17
3.   Villarreal    17
4.   Barca        16
5.   Real          16

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