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.
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS