Valencia trimmed the gap on fourth-placed Espanyol to a point when a Roberto Soldado double gave them a 2-1 home win over Almeria in La Liga on Sunday.
Espanyol had gone four clear thanks to a 3-2 success at Atletico Madrid on Saturday, before Soldado struck in each half to lift Valencia to 24 points from 13 matches and keep them in the hunt for a place in European competition.
Unbeaten leaders Real Madrid had 32 points from 12 games ahead of yesterday’s Clasico against Barcelona, who were a point behind.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Soldado made the most of a slice of luck to open the scoring at the Mestalla. A floated pass landed on the back of his head and fell kindly for the striker, who took the ball inside a defender and finished low into the net.
His second came from a typically swift Valencia counter attack. Joaquin sent Aritz Aduriz clear on the right and Juan Mata cleverly flicked his low cross into the path of Soldado, who controlled the ball and beat Diego Alves from close range.
Jose Leonardo Ulloa scored a consolation header late on.
“I was trying to watch the defender [on the first goal] and it just hit me on the head,” Soldado said in a television interview. “They all count.”
Earlier, Pierre Webo and Gonzalo Castro struck just after halftime to give Real Mallorca a 2-0 home win over Malaga. Michael Laudrup’s side are a point clear of Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, who both lost on Saturday.
Castro sent Webo clear to open the scoring at the Iberostar Estadio in the 50th minute and the Cameroon striker returned the favor five minutes later for Castro to make it 2-0.
Also on Sunday, Carlos Gurpegi’s header in added time snatched a 1-0 home win for Athletic Bilbao over Osasuna.
Hercules beat Levante 3-1, Deportivo lost 1-0 at Racing Santander and Sporting Gijon were beaten 3-1 at home by Real Sociedad.
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