David Villa joined Lionel Messi at the top of the goalscoring charts, hitting his 13th and 14th goals, as Valencia moved three points behind second-placed Real Madrid after a 4-1 derby win over 10-man Villarreal at the Mestalla on Sunday.
Argentine Ever Banega opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Villa converted a 28th-minute penalty that he had won.
Villarreal’s centerback Francisco Kiko was sent off for conceding the spot-kick, giving Valencia a man extra for more than an hour.
PHOTO: REUTERS
David Silva, finding his best form after recovering from injury, made it 3-0 in the 56th minute, before Villarreal’s Brazilian Nilmar pulled one back five minutes later.
Spanish international Villa, however, grabbed his second in stoppage-time to join Barcelona’s Messi on 14 goals.
It was a welcome tonic for Valencia following their painful Kings Cup defeat to Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday and they are now just three adrift of Real, who lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
In other matches, Atletico Madrid made it a perfect three league wins out of three this year with a 3-2 home victory over Sporting Gijon at the Vicente Calderon as they continued their push toward the European places.
Atletico had scored nine goals in their last two matches and the goals continued to flow, with Diego Forlan, Paulo Assuncao and teenager Ibrahima Balde on target as a resurgent Madrid moved seven points off sixth-placed Sevilla.
Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores singled out Assuncao for praise after the Brazilian bounced back from his midweek sending off in the Kings Cup victory over Recreativo Huelva with a rare goal.
“He is an unsung hero and a footballer that deserves a reward like he got today,” Flores said. “The other day football was unfair to him, but it made up for it today.”
Earlier on Sunday, Real Mallorca moved up to fourth recording a ninth successive home win 2-0 over rivals Deportivo La Coruna.
Julio Alvarez gave an early warning, hitting the post for Mallorca on 12 minutes and the goal duly arrived a minute after the interval through Mario Suarez. Chori Castro added a second eight minutes later.
It capped a fine week for Mallorca, who reached the quarter-finals of the Kings Cup in midweek with a win over Rayo Vallecano and now sit in the Champions League places after leapfrogging Deportivo, now two points behind in fifth, as they maintained their flawless home record.
“This was our best game of the season,” Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano said. “It was a fair result and we have also completed a great first half of the season at home. I hope that at the end of the season we are fighting for a European spot.”
In other matches, the bottom of the table clash between Xerez and Real Zaragoza ended in a 0-0 draw that does little for either side. Xerez’s interim manager Antonio Poyatos, taking charge after the sacking of Jose Angel Ziganda, could not inspire the troubled club, who are nine points from safety. Zaragoza stay second from bottom, three points from safety, with coach Jose Aurelio Gay yet to win any of his four league games in charge.
Malaga moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Getafe thanks to an 84th-minute goal from Nabil Baha.
That result saw Tenerife replace Malaga in the final relegation place after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Almeria on Sunday. Islanders Tenerife have yet to win on the road and this was only their second point away from home.
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