Valencia climbed above Atletico Madrid and Sevilla into third place in La Liga when Alvaro Negredo came off the bench to score a late winner in a 3-2 home victory over his former club UD Almeria on Saturday.
Captain Dani Parejo fired Valencia ahead in the 11th minute at the Estadio Mestalla when he clipped home an Antonio Barragan cross, but Almeria forward Tomer Hemed leveled two minutes later when he turned in a Wellington cross.
Rodrigo restored Valencia’s lead in the 29th minute, before Hemed grabbed his second in the 33rd to become the all-time Israeli top scorer in La Liga with 25 goals, surpassing the tally of 24 amassed by former RC Celta de Vigo midfielder Haim Revivo at the end of the 1990s.
Photo: AFP
Negredo, who has yet to spark since sealing a loan move from Manchester City and who played for Almeria between 2007 and 2009, missed a couple of headers as Valencia pressed for a winner, but made amends when he nodded powerfully into the net seven minutes from time.
Valencia have 38 points at the halfway point of their season, the same as Atletico Madrid, who were due to play at bottom side Granada yesterday, but above the champions on goal-difference.
The pair are two points ahead of fifth-placed Sevilla, who were due to host seventh-placed Malaga yesterday.
Valencia coach Nuno told a press conference the club, recently taken over by Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, were on track to meet their goal of qualifying for Europe, which they failed to do last season.
“The team is improving every day,” the Portuguese said. “We must congratulate the players, but keep them on their toes for what lies ahead.”
Leaders Real Madrid had 42 points ahead of their match at Getafe yesterday, while second-placed Barcelona, a point behind their archrivals having played one game more, were due to visit RC Deportivo de La Coruna.
Sixth-placed Villarreal rubbed salt in Athletic Bilbao’s wounds when they beat them 2-0 at El Madrigal, the struggling Basque side’s fifth defeat in their past six matches.
Russia international Denis Cheryshev opened the scoring three minutes before halftime when he rounded goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz and crashed an angled shot high into the empty net, before captain Bruno Soriano netted an 83rd-minute penalty.
The win lifted Villarreal to within a point of Sevilla, while Bilbao stayed in 13th, level on 19 points with 12th-placed regional rivals Real Sociedad.
Sociedad’s bid to climb away from the relegation places suffered a setback when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano de Madrid and then whistled by their own supporters.
Sociedad have stabilized since former Manchester United and Everton manager David Moyes took over in November last year after a poor start to the campaign, but their latest setback came after they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Villarreal on Wednesday last week.
Rayo secured the points at Sociedad’s Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian when Angola international Manucho outjumped the home defense at an 81st-minute corner and headed past goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
It was no more than the visitors deserved after a lackluster performance from Sociedad, who lacked creativity and penetration in attack, and it showed Moyes has plenty of work to do if the Basques are to retain their top-flight status.
Sociedad, who have beaten Real Madrid, Barca and Atletico at home, but stumbled against teams of lesser caliber, and Bilbao are three points above the relegation zone.
RCD Espanyol moved up to ninth place on 23 points when Felipe Caicedo, who scored twice in the Copa del Rey last week when the Barcelona-based club knocked out Valencia, struck in the 90th minute to snatch a 1-0 win at home to 11th-placed RC Celta de Vigo.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
RSS