Athletic earn point over Valencia; Espanyol climb to ninth place
BARCELONA, Spain --
Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz scored in the last minute to snatch a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Valencia in the Spanish league on Thursday.
The striker tapped in a shot that had come off the post as his team pushed for an equalizer following the dismissal of Valencia's Nicolas Otamendi in the 82nd.
Aduriz pointed to injured teammate Iker Muniain in the stands after his leveler, who is facing a six-month layoff after tearing ligaments in his left knee in Bilbao's 2-0 defeat away to Sevilla last Saturday.
Substitute Rodrigo de Paul had given Valencia the lead at San Mames Stadium with a goal in the 61st.
The draw left Valencia in fourth place, but only one point above fifth-place Sevilla as they vie for the last Champions League spot. Bilbao remained in eighth.
Espanyol striker Felipe Caicedo scored a brace to lead his side to a 3-0 victory at Villarreal as it rose into ninth, while Getafe won 1-0 at Elche to move further away from the relegation zone.
Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santo pointed to Otamendi's sending off for his studs-first tackle of Mikel San Jose as the turning point to the match.
''That limited what we could do,'' he said. ''He is a key piece of our team... Until then, we saw two evenly matched teams in the first half, and in the second half we had our opportunities to seal the win.''
At Villarreal, Caicedo was positioned for a deflected ball to bounce off his thigh and into the net for Espanyol's first goal in the 24th. He then scored from a solo effort in the 68th, turning quickly after receiving the ball with his back to the goal and firing a low shot under goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.
Victor Sanchez netted in the 79th to complete Villarreal's worst home loss in league this season. Villarreal's winless run reached four games as it remained in sixth.
Getafe midfielder Freddy Hinestroza scored with a glancing header from a corner kick in the 84th to grab a 1-0 win that kept Elche three points above the drop zone.
