Round 14: "Valencia" powerfully ends the series of failures

2006-12-10 20:47 © EuroFootball.com

On Sunday, all eight remaining matches of the 14th round of "La Liga" were played. Despite some unexpected results, the most attention was drawn to the last match of the round, where the recovering from an injury crisis Valencia crushed Deportivo La Coruna 4-0.

The hosts in Valencia started the match with a stronger lineup than they have had recently: after a two and a half months break, captain David Albelda returned to the field, and striker David Villa was back in the attacking line.

Valencia took the lead in the 10th minute, when D. Villa on the left side noticed Spain's national team defender Vicente, who crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Miguel Angel Angulo beat Deportivo's goalkeeper. In the middle of the first half, Valencia could have doubled their lead, but after Vicente's lifted penalty shot, Silva's header missed the target.

Ten minutes later, D. Villa had another chance, but the Spanish forward missed the goal after Silva's pass. However, after four minutes, D. Villa shined again, earning not only an eleven-meter penalty, but also Juanma was sent off for a rough foul and before leaving the field, he attacked his victim. However, that did not shake D. Villa, and the Spaniard confidently sent the ball into the corner of the goal.

But Deportivo did not want to give up - a few minutes later, defender Fabrizio Colloccini took a shot at goal, but Santiago Canizares showed great reactions.

In the second half, the hosts were once again more active, and after a substitution, Joaquin almost scored a goal. During the following attacks, Deportivo players were forced to clear the ball from the goal line.

Midway through the second half, Silva had a chance to score after D. Villa's pass, but his shot with his left foot missed the far post.

With fifteen minutes left to play, the score became a rout - after a great pass from Ruben Baraja in front of the goalkeeper, D. Villa jumped and rounded the opposition's goalkeeper D. Aouate and sent the ball into the goal.

Valencia ended their excellent day in added time - Vicente, not letting the ball hit the ground, struck it towards the goal, but the ball hit his teammate Raul Albiol. However, Vicente was the first to rush to the rebounding ball and calmly sent it into the goal.

One of the biggest surprises was Athletic Bilbao's 4-2 victory against Recreativo Huelva, which was in sixth place before. It was the second win for the Basque club this season, allowing them to climb from the bottom of the table.

In other Sunday matches, another bottom team, Gimnastic Tarragona, won 2-1 against Levante Valencia.

Osasuna from Pamplona won a convincing home victory, scoring three goals unanswered against Mallorca.

Meanwhile, the ambitious players of Zaragoza defeated Racing Santander 2-0 and narrowed the gap to third-placed Real Madrid to just three points.

Two matches ended in a draw: Celta Vigo failed to beat neighboring Villarreal in the standings, while Getafe, in sixth place, failed to defeat Betis Sevilla, who were in 18th place.

Teams with ambitions to reach the top four had their plans thwarted by Espanyol Barcelona, this time defeating Atletico Madrid 2-1.

Statistics

Huelva "Recreativo" 4 - 2 Athletic Bilbao

6' [1 - 0] Own goal by Dani Bautista

27' [2 - 0] Ismael Urzaiz

41' [3 - 0] Ismael Urzaiz

55' [3 - 1] Ikechukwu Uche

59' [4 - 1] Joseba Garmendia

88' [4 - 2] Own goal by Jose Sarriege

Celta Vigo 1 - 1 Villarreal

17' [1 - 0] Fernando Baiano

65' [1 - 1] Diego Forlan