Two goals in three minutes from Joaquin Sanchez gave Valencia a vital 2-0 victory over Recreativo Huelva and moved the 2002 and 2004 Spanish champions up to fourth position in La Liga on Saturday.
Joaquin got his first right on the hour from the right-hand edge of the six yard box after a defense-splitting cross by David Villa.
The second from the right winger, one of the quickest men in the Spanish first division, was a wonderful chip from just inside the penalty box after a pass from David Silva.
Valencia also nearly scored a third when Miguel Angel Angulo hit the post 15 minutes from time.
Joaquin's form in recent games could herald a recall to the national side, for whom he has won 42 caps but not played since August last year, ahead of Spain's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Latvia and Liechtenstein in June.
Spanish national manager Luis Aragones conceded this week that "the moment has come when he [Joaquin] could return but on some occasions he needs a psychologist."
Valencia now have 56 points from 32 games and keep up the pressure on Spain's top trio, Barcelona, Sevilla and Real Madrid, who are contesting the tightest three-way title race for five years.
Atletico Madrid and Real Betis battled each other to a standstill with a 0-0 draw earlier on Saturday, a result which did little to help either side.
Betis remain embroiled in the fight to avoid going down. By contrast, Atletico stay in sixth place but are still hoping to return Europe next season after an eight-year absence.
The best chance to break the deadlock came five minutes from time when Atletico's Bulgarian international striker Martin Petrov had a right foot shot which just skimmed the crossbar.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS