Diego Forlan scored twice as Atletico Madrid won 4-1 against
Valencia, which ended the game with nine men on Sunday in the
Spanish league.
The result means Valencia stays third on 46 points and
Atletico moves up to 11th on 30.
David Silva put Valencia ahead in the 20th minute, dribbling
round goalkeeper David de Gea and carefully placing his shot.
Forlan equalized with a penalty in the 30th after Carlos
Marchena was ruled to have handled the ball in the area. Referee
Perez Burrull did not punish the infraction until Atletico's
players persuaded him to consult with the fourth official.
Sergio Aguero gave Atletico the lead with a header from a
Simao Sabrosa corner in the 78th, his 50th career Spanish league
goal. Forlan scored again in the 85th and Jose Manuel Jurado added
the fourth in injury time.
"I'm delighted with the win, we really needed three points,"
said Aguero. "It had been a while since I last scored."
On Saturday, Barcelona beat Malaga 2-1 to stay top of the
league. Real Madrid had led the standings temporarily by winning
5-1 at Tenerife earlier.
Barcelona is on 61 points and Madrid second on 59 points.
Earlier Sunday, Joseba Llorente scored the winner as
Villarreal beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 and moved closer to the
European places.
The forward struck in the 35th minute to lift Villarreal into
eighth in the standings on 32 points.
Also, Mallorca went fifth on 40 points after winning 2-1 at
Valladolid with a late goal from Julio Alvarez. Victory closed the
gap on Sevilla, which is fourth on 43 points after earning a 0-0
draw with only 10 men for most of the second half of its game
against Athletic Bilbao.
Diego Castro scored an 80th minute penalty to give Sporting
Gijon a 3-2 win against Osasuna, bottom-of-league Xerez drew 1-1
with Espanyol and Almeria won 2-0 at Racing Santander.
On Saturday, Humberto Suazo scored twice as Zaragoza beat
Getafe 2-0.
Atletico attacked from the start at its Calderon Stadium.
Simao Sabrosa hit the post in the third minute while Forlan and
Jose Antonio Reyes also came close with early efforts.
With the score even and Valencia a man down following
Marchena's expulsion, Atletico looked likely to score again.
Just before halftime Aguero was through with only goalkeeper
Cesar Sanchez to beat. However, the Argentina striker miskicked,
sending the ball into the stands.
Sanchez made a spectacular save from a Sabrosa freekick in
the 55th before making another stop minutes later from Reyes.
However, Valencia still pushed for the winner and coach Unai
Emery replaced Joaquin Sanchez with another attacking midfielder,
Pablo Hernandez.
Luis Miguel Brito was unlucky to be expelled 10 minutes from
the end for a tackle on Juan Valera.
As the clock ticked down Valencia tired and Atletico's
forwards took full advantage to put the game out of reach.
At Villarreal's Madrigal Stadium a minute's silence was
observed before the game in tribute to striker Giuseppe Rossi's
father, who has died.
Villarreal's performance was a big improvement on its 4-1
defeat to Wolfsburg last week which saw it knocked out of the
Europa League. The team played with its trademark fluidity although
it struggled to find the net.
Nilmar, who provided the pass for Llorente's goal, came close
to scoring himself with a superb strike that goalkeeper Daniel
Aranzubia just got a hand to shortly before halftime.
However, Villarreal had to resist some late pressure from La
Coruna to secure the three points.
Sevilla had more possession of the ball at its Sanchez
Pizjuan Stadium although it had trouble breaking down the Bilbao
defense.
Diego Perotti tested Gorza Iraizoz in the 16th minute with an
effort from the wing and Koffi Romaric tried to surprise the Bilbao
keeper with a long-range shot that flew wide in the 37th.
Bilbao had a rare chance shortly before the break when Javier
Martinez created some space on the right of the area and sent his
shot across the face of the goal.
Sevilla keeper Andres Palop made three saves in a row early
in the second half as Bilbao started to turn up the pressure.
The home side was reduced to 10 men in the 51st minute after
Romaric was sent off for dragging Ander Iturraspe down when the
Bilbao midfielder was through on goal. The sanction means the Ivory
Coast midfielder will miss Sevilla's visit to Real Madrid next
weekend.
With the numerical advantage starting to show, Bilbao's
Fernando Llorente spun away from his marker to shoot low and force
a save from Palop in the 70th minute but the home side held on for
a point.
