ACTUALITE |
19.02.2007
Barca slide to defeat at Valencia
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- Valencia put themselves firmly in the title race with a 2-1 home win over leaders Barcelona in the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Two quick goals early in the second half from Miguel Angel Angulo and David Silva settled a hotly contested match, which saw Valencia`s David Albelda and Barca`s Deco sent off for a pair of ugly challenges near the hour mark.
Ronaldinho pulled a goal back for the visitors with a freekick at the end.
Barcelona remain top with 46 points, but only on goal difference from Sevilla who beat fifth-placed Atletico Madrid 3-1 in Sunday`s late match.
Sevilla`s Frederic Kanoute scored twice to take his tally to a league leading 18 for the season in their fine victory.
Daniel Alves grabbed Sevilla`s other goal with Pablo Ibanez getting a late consolation for Atletico after Fernando Torres missed a penalty.
Valencia`s win saw them climb to third on 42 points, above Real Madrid due to their superior goal difference.
Real dropped to fourth after they were held 0-0 at home by Real Betis on Saturday with former England captain David Beckham sent off in the closing moments.
Earlier on Sunday, Recreativo Huelva moved up to seventh in the table with a 1-0 home win over Real Sociedad, two points behind sixth-placed Real Zaragoza.
Ten-man Celta Vigo secured their first win in 12 league games thanks to a second-minute header from Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano.
They had midfielder Fabian Canobbio sent off just before the break but hung on for the three points.
With Cameroon striker Samuel Eto`o left at home to work on his fitness, Barca coach Frank Rijkaard started with Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen in Valencia.
Dominated possession
Barca dominated possession while Valencia looked to exploit the pace of their front players on the counter-attack.
Visiting goalkeeper Victor Valdes denied David Villa in a one-on-one after just seven minutes, but chances were at a premium throughout.
Valencia blew the game open with two goals in three minutes early in the second half.
Villa broke down the left and picked out Angulo`s darting run with a low pass that the Spain forward sidefooted home from close range.
The second came when Valdes could only parry a shot from the right by Angulo, who collected the rebound and fed Silva to fire low into the exposed net.
Rijkaard threw Argentine Lionel Messi into the game and Albelda welcomed him with a studs up challenge from behind on the hour.
Deco flew in with a similar tackle on Albelda while the player was on the ground, and the referee sent both off.
Messi and Ronaldinho spearheaded Barca`s increasingly desperate attempts to get back into the game but the Brazilian`s low freekick around the wall in time added on left no room for a real fightback.
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Hits: 1 | Source:Reuters | |
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