Real Mallorca continued their Champions League push with a narrow 3-2 home win over rivals Valencia on Sunday to move level on points with fourth-placed Sevilla.
Mallorca made it 13 league wins from 15 at their fortress Ono Stadium and capped a miserable week for Valencia, who lost their Europa League quarter-final to Atletico Madrid on away goals on Thursday.
Gonzalo Castro put Mallorca into a sixth-minute lead and Cameroon forward Pierre Webo scored a second on 21 minutes as Mallorca went in 2-0 up at the break.
PHOTO: AFP
Jordi Alba pulled a goal back for Valencia two minutes after the interval, but an own-goal from Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes, who was later sent off, made it 3-1 on 63 minutes.
Pablo Hernandez netted on 85 minutes to pull a goal back for Valencia and Mallorca survived a hairy few final minutes to net three vital points.
Mallorca were expected to be fighting relegation this season, but coach Gregorio Manzano has pushed the islanders into the Champions League reckoning with just seven games left. Despite the defeat Valencia are nestled in third place, five points ahead of Sevilla and Mallorca.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao surged back into the top six with a resounding 4-0 win over Almeria to move two points ahead of Villarreal as the race for Europe intensified.
It was a 10th home victory of the season for Bilbao who were four goals up after just 51 minutes with Javi Martinez grabbing a brace, while Igor Gabilondo and Fernando Llorente were also on the score sheet.
Spanish international Llorente also missed a penalty as Bilbao ran riot and Almeria only had a consolation goal from Argentine Pablo Piatti to show for their efforts.
Deportivo La Coruna fell five points behind Athletic Bilbao with a frustrating 1-1 home draw against struggling Racing Santander.
Ivan Riki scored in the first minute for Deportivo, who travel to Barcelona tomorrow, but substitute Toni Moral leveled on 83 minutes to secure a valuable point for Racing.
Racing climbed up to 15th, six points above the drop zone, while Deportivo’s European hopes are fading fast after just one point from the last 15.
Atletico Madrid may be in the Kings Cup final and Europa League semi-finals — where they face Liverpool — but their league form is erratic and the club fell to a 3-0 defeat at Espanyol to fall eight points off sixth-placed Bilbao.
Atletico edged past Valencia on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, but they came crashing back down to earth on Sunday.
Victor Ruiz, Argentine Pablo Osvaldo and Ivan Alonso were on target for Espanyol who now finally look safe, 11 points above the relegation zone.
In Sunday’s other match, Osasuna defeated Real Zaragoza 2-0.
Spanish La Liga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Barcelona | 31 | 58 | 80 |
2 | Real Madrid | 31 | 55 | 77 |
3 | Valencia | 31 | 15 | 56 |
4 | Sevilla | 31 | 9 | 51 |
5 | Real Mallorca | 31 | 13 | 51 |
6 | Athletic Bilbao | 31 | 3 | 48 |
7 | Villarreal | 31 | 5 | 46 |
8 | Getafe | 31 | 3 | 44 |
9 | Deportivo La Coruna | 31 | -6 | 43 |
10 | Atletico Madrid | 31 | -1 | 40 |
11 | Sporting Gijon | 31 | -6 | 37 |
12 | Osasuna | 31 | -7 | 37 |
13 | Almeria | 31 | -10 | 37 |
14 | Espanyol | 31 | -12 | 37 |
15 | Racing Santander | 31 | -14 | 32 |
16 | Real Zaragoza | 31 | -18 | 32 |
17 | Malaga | 31 | -5 | 31 |
18 | Tenerife | 31 | -32 | 26 |
19 | Valladolid | 31 | -23 | 25 |
20 | Xerez | 31 | -27 | 23 |
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS