Aritz Aduriz came off the bench to score twice for third-placed Valencia, who were denied victory by a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Real Racing Club de Santander in La Liga on Sunday.
Adrian Gonzalez had given Racing a second-minute lead at the Estadio El Sardinero, but the introduction of striker Aduriz in the 63rd minute turned the game for the visitors.
The substitute volleyed in from a corner four minutes later and poached a second goal with an opportunist header, before Bernardo rose to head Santander level two minutes from time.
Photo: EPA
Tempers boiled over at the end with the hosts having Pedro Munitis sent off, while Ricardo Costa was dismissed for Valencia, who finished with nine on the pitch after Mehmet Topal left with a head injury after all their substitutes had been used.
Levante UD lost 2-1 at home to Getafe.
Former Spain striker Dani Guiza opened the scoring for the visitors with a lucky rebound and Diego Castro doubled their lead on a counterattack in the 83rd minute. Ruben Suarez pulled one back for the hosts from the penalty spot at the end.
They retain the last Champions League qualification berth on goal-difference from RCD Espanyol in fifth.
Malaga climbed to seventh with a typically feisty 2-1 home win over regional rivals Sevilla, their first in La Liga since November.
All the goals came in the first 20 minutes, with Weligton and Sebastian Fernandez giving the hosts the lead either side of Antonio Luna’s reply for Sevilla, and they held on despite losing Isco to a red card in the bad-tempered closing stages.
The win had normally placid coach Manuel Pellegrini punching the air at the final whistle as la Rosaleda breathed a collective sigh of relief.
New Granada coach Abel Resino made a good start as his side won 2-1 in another Andalucian derby at Real Betis Balompie in the midday kickoff.
First-half goals from Nigerian striker Ighalo and Portuguese midfielder Carlos Martins helped drag the promoted side out of the bottom three.
Sporting de Gijon were hammered 5-1 at mid-table Real Sociedad after David Zurutuza scored twice in the first four minutes, before having to be substituted after a clash of heads in the seventh. He was taken to hospital for surgery on a broken nose.
The Basques wrapped up the win with three more goals in the final 14 minutes.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB