Alvaro Negredo struck in stoppage-time as stuttering Valencia won 2-1 against his former club Sevilla on Sunday to earn coach Pako Ayesteran victory in his first home game in charge since succeeding Gary Neville.
Villarreal improved their chances of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in five years by beating relegation-threatened Getafe 2-0, while Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 against Rayo Vallecano de Madrid and RC Celta de Vigo beat Real Sporting de Gijon 1-0.
Daniel Parejo’s deflected free-kick in the 41st minute opened the scoring for Valencia, who had not won in La Liga since March 2, but Kevin Gameiro leveled with four minutes remaining.
Photo: AFP
However, Negredo restored the home side’s advantage a minute into stoppage-time, denying former Valencia coach Unai Emery a happy return to the Mestalla.
“The players, club and fans showed responsibility throughout the week. The victory belongs to all our supporters, our fans were incredible today,” Ayesteran told a press conference. “We aren’t fighting for the league, we’re fighting for a dignified end to the season and it’s difficult, so I’d give a 10 out of 10 to my players, and 11 out of 10 to the supporters.”
Fourth-placed Villarreal beat struggling Getafe to move on to 60 points, eight above fifth-placed Celta, their nearest challengers for Champions League qualification.
Photo: EPA
A brilliant piece of skill and a low finish into the bottom corner from Denis Suarez put Villarreal ahead in the 15th minute.
Top-scorer Cedric Bakambu bundled the ball in from close range for his 19th goal of the season in all competitions with five minutes remaining to seal the win.
Getafe, who are without a win in the league since Jan. 17, slumped to a 10th defeat in 12 games.
Bilbao responded to their UEFA Europa League quarter-final first-leg defeat to Sevilla on Thursday last week by beating struggling Rayo thanks to a goal by Inaki Williams.
The 21-year-old rattled a shot from the edge of the penalty area in off the crossbar in the 61st minute to put Athletic ahead, although Rayo had the better chances over the 90 minutes.
In the day’s early kickoff, Celta boosted their hopes of qualifying for Europe by beating Sporting 1-0 thanks to a solitary strike in the 64th minute by Spain international Nolito.
Luka Doncic on Monday scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked NBA Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for post-season positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort
‘THAT’S US’: Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for the tambor, coastal Afro-Venezuelan music and dance Venezuelan players on Monday night danced in the dugout before the first pitch, then pranced past Italy and into their nation’s first World Baseball Classic (WBC) final. Ronald Acuna Jr, Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a rapid seventh-inning rally that sparked a 4-2 victory and vaulted Venezuela into a title matchup against the US. Players celebrated in the clubhouse before quickly turning focus to the final. “A lot of dancing,” Garcia said. “We have to show the world who Venezuela is.” Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for
Japan’s national baseball team manager Hirokazu Ibata has said he would step down following Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela in Miami in the quarter-finals of the World Baseball Classic. The newspaper Sports Hochi reported Ibata saying it was his “intention to resign.” Japan are the defending champions and had won the event three times. It marked Japan’s first failure to reach the WBC semi-finals despite a team stacked with MLB talent including Shohei Ohtani. “The result is everything,” Sports Hochi reported Ibata as saying. “Although we lost this time, I hope Japan will grow stronger and win next time.” Japan
Retired NBA big man LaMarcus Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star, is to visit Taiwan early next month for the first time to promote an NBA event, the league’s Taiwan Web site said on Monday. During his visit, Aldridge would meet fans on April 4 and 5 at Banciao Stadium in New Taipei City during the Rising Stars Invitational Taiwan Regional Qualifiers, NBA Taiwan wrote on Facebook. Tickets became available on FamiTicket on Monday at noon and can be reserved until 11:59pm on March 31, with a maximum purchase of two tickets per person, it said. The tickets are divided into three
RSS