The Hindu : Sport / Football : Valencia extends unbeaten run

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Friday, Dec 24, 2004

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Sport - Football

Valencia extends unbeaten run

MADRID, DEC. 23. Striker Miguel Angel ``Mista'' Ferrer scored twice on Wednesday to earn Valencia a 3-0 victory over a nine-man Espanyol and lift the defending champion into second place in the Spanish league.

Spain midfielder Ruben Baraja opened the scoring to help Valencia extend its unbeaten run to seven matches and inflict the heaviest defeat of the season on Espanyol, which had Raul Tamudo and Oscar Serrano ejected just before halftime.

``We played the best minutes of the year at home in the first half, together with our match against Real Sociedad. I'm convinced we can do much more and the players know this as well,'' Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri was quoted by news agency Efe.

In another 17th-round game, Sevilla's Brazilian forward Julio Baptista scored in the 19th minute to beat Real Madrid 1-0 and win its first game at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in 20 years.

Madrid's fifth defeat of the season, which dropped it to fifth place, was watched by Italian Arrigo Sacchi, who was named as the club's director of soccer on Monday.

Wednesday's other results were: Deportivo la Coruna 2, Zaragoza 3; Albacete 2, Villarreal 2; Malaga 1, Real Sociedad 5; Getafe 2, Racing Santander 0; Athletic Bilbao 4, Mallorca 0; and Osasuna 2, Numancia 0.

Barcelona leads

Barcelona, which beat Levante 2-1 on Tuesday, heads the standings with 42 points. Valencia has 32, one point ahead of Sevilla. Espanyol fell to fourth with 30, one more than Madrid. Real Betis, which edged Atletico Madrid 1-0 on Tuesday, is sixth with 27.

Madrid has played one less game because its December 12 encounter with Real Sociedad was abandoned due to a bomb scare, and will be resumed on January. 5.

Baraja put Valencia ahead with a free kick in the 12th minute and Espanyol's hopes were dashed when Tamudo and Serrano were ejected for dissent.

Espanyol coach Miguel Angel Lotina was irritated by the dismissals of his players by Victor Esquinas Torres.

``This referee surprises no one. What happened today is terrible for soccer and above all for him. I hope his conscience makes him realise what he has done,'' Lotina said.

Mista added a second in the 81st when he slid home a cross from the right by substitute Francisco Perez Rufete, and added a similar goal five minutes later on a pass by another substitute, Italian forward Bernardo Corradi.

Real Madrid slides down

Madrid finished the year by slipping 13 points behind rival Barcelona.

Coach Mariano Garcia Remon selected Michael Owen to start and left Ronaldo on the bench despite recovering from the injury, which kept him out of Saturday's win over Santander. Left back Roberto Carlos was unavailable because of injury.

Sevilla capitalised on its counter-attacking style to score the game's only goal when Baptista raced onto a header and chipped over advancing goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the 19th minute.

The Brazilian, who scored 20 goals for Sevilla last season, has eight goals this year.

Ronaldo replaced David Beckham at halftime, but Madrid rarely threatened, while Sevilla continued to trouble Casillas regularly, sparking some Madrid supporters to jeer the team as it left the field.

Midfielder Ruben ``Cani'' Garcia, Argentine defender Gabriel Milito and striker David Villa scored to earn Zaragoza its first victory in eight games and stretch Deportivo's winless run to five.

Deportivo, which had Argentine midfielder Lionel Scaloni ejected with four minutes remaining for a reckless tackle, led early in the second half on goals by Pablo Amo and forward Albert Luque two minutes apart.

Albacete's Uruguayan striker Antonio Pacheco and Villarreal's Antonio ``Guayre'' Betancor each scored twice in the teams' 2-2 draw. — AP

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