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On Saturday, victories were celebrated in two of the last - 19th - matches of the Spanish championship's first round by "Valencia" and Seville's "Betis". The Valencia team defeated the till now unbeaten Pamplona's "Osasuna" eleven at home, while the Seville footballers narrowly defeated the Madrid "Atletico" team, who had fired their coach a couple of days earlier.
After a slow start to the season, "Valencia" started to show excellent form, defeating the second-placed "Osasuna" 2-0 and extending their unbeaten streak to eight matches. In the middle of the first half, Spain's national team left-back Vicente had to leave the field due to a shin injury, but his replacement, Uruguayan Mario Regueiro, scored a goal from a sharp angle just before the break to put the hosts ahead.
Spain's national team forward David Villa scored his 11th goal of the season in the beginning of the second half with a header from Miguel Angel Angulo's cross from the right. The goalkeeper of "Valencia", Santiago Canizares, played very well and kept the hosts' goal safe from dangerous "Osasuna" attacks, ending the visitors' streak of ten unbeaten matches.
With this victory, "Valencia" closed in on "Osasuna" by three points and were 36 points behind the leaders "Barcelona", who would play against Bilbao "Athletic" on Sunday and were ahead by seven points.
The players of Madrid's "Atletico", led by Pepe Murcia as an interim manager after the dismissal of Carlos Bianchi a couple of days earlier, showed a better performance, but had to admit a victory for Seville's "Betis", who were getting back in form. The only goal of the match in the middle of the first half was scored from a distance by Capi after a mistake by Colombian defender Luis Perea.
The improving players of "Betis" had earned seven points in the last three matches, while "Atletico" had failed to win in ten consecutive matches.
Saturday's results: 2 - 0 Pamplona 45` [1 - 0] Mario Regueiro 52` [2 - 0] David Villa Seville 1 - 0 Madrid 30` [1 - 0] Capi
Sunday's matches: Deportivo - Alaves Getafe - Celta Malaga - Cadiz Racing Santander - Villarreal Real Sociedad - Espanyol Zaragoza - Mallorca Barcelona - Athletic Bilbao Real - Sevilla
Top scorers: 1. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) - 18 goals 2. David Villa (Valencia) - 11 goals 3. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) - 10 goals 4-5. Diego Tristan (Deportivo) - 9 goals 4-5. Ronaldo (Real) - 9 goals
League table
