Daniel Parejo scored an injury-time penalty Sunday for Getafe to
twice come from behind and beat Sevilla 4-3 in the Spanish league.
Parejo was tripped by Manuel "Lolo" Ortiz inside the area in
the fourth minute of injury time, and the Getafe midfielder
converted the spot kick on the second attempt after being asked to
take it again.
"It was pretty tough with all the euphoria after scoring the
first goal, and the circumstances of the game," Parejo said.
Sevilla stayed fifth but fell two points behind fourth-place
Mallorca, which scored an injury-time equalizer to draw 1-1 with
Malaga.
Luis Fabiano scored twice and Frederic Kanoute added another
for Sevilla after Adrian Gonzalez had given Getafe a 1-0 lead.
Pedro Leon and Manu Del Moral scored in the second half for
Getafe to stay in the hunt for a Europa League spot.
Villarreal kept up its own chase to finish in the last
Champions League place after rallying for a 2-1 victory over Racing
Santander.
Mallorca has 56 points, Sevilla 54, Villarreal 52 and Getafe
50 with four rounds to play.
Leon's deft touch put Gonzalez clear for a well-deserved
17th-minute opener. Getafe hit the goal frame three times before
Fabiano equalized in the 33rd.
Sevilla had few opportunities but took advantage of one when
Kanoute chipped over goalkeeper Jordi Codina from an angle in the
38th to make it 2-1.
Leon calmly gathered the ball inside the area to beat
goalkeeper Andres Palop in the 58th. But Fabiano made it 3-2 five
minutes later, collecting Kanoute's headed pass and evading two
defenders to score his 13th goal of the season.
Getafe's pressure paid off in the 75th as Del Moral exchanged
passes with Gonzalez before his shot deflected past Palop. Kanoute
picked up a second yellow card to leave Sevilla with 10 men from
the 85th, and Getafe took advantage to cap an enthralling match.
"We were one point back of the Champions League and now we're
only two - that's the positive," Sevilla coach Antonio Alvarez
said. "I need to lift the morale of my players."
Sergio Canales scored another impressive goal for Santander,
the Real Madrid-bound teenager using his chest twice to control the
ball at the edge of the area in the 39th minute before swiveling
around his marker to send a left-footed shot into the top corner.
Villarreal equalized in the 70th minute when Diego Godin sent
an angled volley past Fabio Coltorti. The goalkeeper then got a
finger to Santi Cazorla's header in the 83rd but Nilmar beat
Santander's defense to the rebound to bundle the winner over the
line.
"We've got four important games left," Villarreal coach Juan
Carlos Garrido said.
At the Ono Estadi stadium, Malaga goalkeeper Gustavo Munua
saved Chori Castro's penalty after Milan Stepanov was red-carded
for handling the ball on the goal line in the 44th minute.
Victor Obinna, who earlier had an effort cleared off the
line, pounced on a loose ball to fire Malaga ahead in the 86th
minute. But Aritz Aduritz ensured a share of the points by heading
home during a wild goalmouth scramble in injury time.
Emotions ran high in the final moments as Aduritz and
teammate Alhassane Keita scuffled over a mistimed pass.
"There were a lot of nerves at the end of the end of the game
and they found the worst way possible of eliminating them,"
Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano said.
Eduardo Salvio scored two goals and Sergio Aguero added the
other as Atletico Madrid prepared for Thursday's Europa League
semifinal second leg at Liverpool with a 3-1 win over Tenerife.
"This victory gives us deserved calmness," Atletico coach
Quique Sanchez Flores said. "We played a good game, we created
enough chances and we did enough to win well."
Salvio grabbed his first goal since his transfer from
Argentine club Lanus when he scored in the 10th minute and then met
Juan Valera's cross to rifle a shot into the roof of the net in the
31st for his second.
Roman Martinez reduced the deficit in the 61st before Aguero
took his league tally to 12 goals by using his strength to hold off
defender Pablo Sicilia and slipping his finish home.
Elsewhere, Luis Garcia scored a 55th-minute free kick to
guide Espanyol to a 1-0 win over Almeria, while
relegation-threatened Valladolid picked up an important 2-0 win at
Sporting Gijon thanks to late goals from Mateus "Manucho"
Contreiras and Javier Baraja.
Valladolid is 18th - the last relegation spot - and join
next-to-last Tenerife on 32 points, while Malaga and Zaragoza have
34 points.
"As long as there's life, we've got to keep fighting,"
Valladolid coach Javier Clemente said.
Athletic Bilbao, which has 49 points, plays Osasuna on
Monday.
Barcelona beat last-place Xerez 3-1 on Saturday to stay top
of the standings with 87 points, while second-place Real Madrid was
a 2-1 winner at Zaragoza to remain one point behind with four games
to play.
Third-place Valencia beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 to climb to
62 points.
