Two goals from Alvaro Negredo gave Sevilla a 2-1 win against
Valencia in the Spanish league on Sunday as the Andalusians moved
back into the Champions League spots.
The Spain striker tapped in from Julien Escude's knock-on
from a corner in the 21st minute before judging his strike
perfectly to lob Cesar Sanchez in the 70th after being fed the ball
by Jesus Navas on the edge of the area.
David Navarro cut the deficit for Valencia, heading in from
close range during injury time.
The result lifts Sevilla into fourth place on 36 points,
three behind Valencia. Barcelona leads the standings on 52 points,
and Real Madrid is second on 47.
Earlier, goals from Sergio "Duda" Barbosa and Javier Lopez
gave Malaga a 2-0 away win against a lackluster Atletico Madrid.
Duda stroked the ball home in the fourth minute, as he met
right back Jesus Gamez's cross from the flank and Lopez confirmed
Malaga's dominance with his strike from Nabil Baha's cross in the
70th.
"The team played a horrible game from which there's nothing
to salvage and I'm sorry about it," said Atletico coach Quique
Sanchez Flores. "I apologize to our fans because they don't deserve
these emotional highs and lows."
Frederic Kanoute pressured early on at Sevilla's Sanchez
Pizjuan Stadium and Valencia's David Navarro did well to intercept
the ball in the opening minutes before the Mali striker could take
a shot.
Manolo Jimenez's side looked more lively than in Wednesday's
1-0 defeat to Deportivo La Coruna in the Copa del Rey which saw it
advance to the semifinals of the competition on aggregate.
Valencia struggled to control wingers Jesus Navas and Diego
Perotti and the Andalusians dominated the first hour of the game.
With Valencia lacking fluency, its forward line rarely posed
a threat. Coach Unai Emery introduced Ever Banega and Nicola Zigic
on the hour, replacing Carlos Marchena and Pablo Hernandez.
At two goals down, the visitors finally started to put
pressure on the Sevilla defense.
David Silva carved out a chance in the 64th, drifting away
from his marker and forcing a save from Andres Palop. Minutes
later, David Villa hit the post after wrongfooting defender Marius
Stankevicius.
At the Calderon Stadium Atletico boss Sanchez Flores deployed
several reserve team players, with a view to resting some bigger
names ahead of Thursday's Copa del Rey semifinal against Racing
Santander.
The plan appeared to backfire as the home team struggled from
the start and Malaga had a string of chances after Duda's early
goal.
David de Gea had to stretch to save Fernando Fernandez's
goalbound flick-on from Duda's pass and Ecuador striker Salvador
Caicedo struck the side netting after being put through by Selim
Benachour.
Sanchez Flores introduced Sergio Aguero and Jose Antonio
Reyes in attack at halftime, to replace teenagers Ibrahima Balde
and Ignacio Camacho.
When play resumed Aguero burst into the area with the ball
before being booked for diving. The Argentina striker drew a fine
save from Gustavo Munua 10 minutes from the end although he was
mostly stifled by Malaga's defense.
"We managed to contain Atletico's dangerous players," said
Malaga coach Juan Ramon Muniz. "We didn't let them play their game
and we got a great result."
Atletico is 13th with 23 points and Malaga is 15th on 20
points.
Last-place Xerez notched its second win of the season by
beating Mallorca 2-1, while Villarreal sacked coach Ernesto
Valverde following a 2-0 defeat to Osasuna.
Carlos Calvo scored both goals for Xerez, stunning goalkeeper
Dudu Aouate with a long-range strike in the 52nd minute and then
dribbling in from the left to slot home in the 80th.
Pierre Webo had put Mallorca ahead in the 24th when he met
Gonzalo Castro's low cross from the left with a diving header.
Mallorca has a 100 percent home record in the league this
season. However, the Balearic side has only won twice away from the
Ono Estadi and looked unconvincing against Xerez, which has been
rooted to the bottom of the standings.
Mallorca's day was summed up in the 35th when Aritz Aduriz
had a penalty saved after Aythami Artiles was ruled to have pulled
down the striker in the area.
Xerex remains in 20th place on 11 points and Mallorca is
fifth on 34 points.
At Villarreal's Madrigal Stadium, Osasuna went ahead through
Juan Francisco Torres in the 15th, before sealing the win in the
85th.
The result means Villarreal drops to 10th in the standings,
while Osasuna jumps to ninth. Both have 26 points.
Also Sunday, relegation candidate Zaragoza beat Tenerife 3-1,
Valladolid drew 1-1 with Almeria and Getafe drew 0-0 with Racing
Santander.
On Saturday, Real Madrid broke a 19-year winless streak at
Deportivo La Coruna's Riazor Stadium with a 3-1 victory, while
Barcelona extended its unbeaten run to 20 matches by beating
Sporting Gijon 1-0. Espanyol beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0.
