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.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS