Villarreal topples Almeria

Nov 9, 2008 - 11:11 PM By PA SportsTicker

Villarreal moved back up to second in the Primera Liga on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Almeria at El Madrigal.

A first-minute goal from Giuseppe Rossi and a second after 15 minutes from Joseba Llorente put the Yellow Submarine in control and, although Pablo Piatti halved the deficit just after the hour mark, Villarreal held on to move to within a point of leaders Barcelona.

Valencia also maintained its title challenge with an impressive 3-0 win at Getafe.

Manuel Fernandes put Valencia in front after 29 minutes with the sending-off of home striker Roberto Soldado for a needless elbow on the stroke of halftime effectively ending the contest.

A wonderful volley from Joaquin made it 2-0 and Vicente added a third with nine minutes to go.

Sevilla is up to fifth, Fredi Kanoute's 63rd-minute header enough to see off local rivals Recreativo Huelva, while Deportivo La Coruna moved up to sixth after edging out Espanyol 1-0 - Andres Guardado netting the only goal.

Javier Portillo spurned a great chance to earn rock-bottom Osasuna its first win of the Primera Liga season after missing a first-half penalty in a goalless draw against Atletico Madrid.

Despite striking his shot well, Portillo's effort was not good enough to beat visiting goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, who flung himself to his left to palm the penalty away.

Mohamed Tchite struck the only goal of the game as Racing Santander beat Sporting Gijon, 1-0, while Real Betis put some daylight between themselves and the relegation places with its third win in four games away to Numancia.

The hosts had taken the lead after 27 minutes through Javier Del Pino, but a penalty from Achille Emana and further goals from Juanito and Mehmet Aurelio put the Seville-based side in control at the break.

Jose Barkero pulled a goal back for Numancia at the start of the second half, but Mehmet Aurelio's second of the night five minutes from time secured the points for Betis - moving them up to 15th in the table while Numancia slide into the drop zone.

Athletic Bilbao staged a dramatic late recovery to claim a 3-3 draw at Real Mallorca.

Athletic had looked set to suffer its sixth successive Primera Liga reverse after Juan Arango's second-half brace had put Mallorca, 3-1, up heading into the final 11 minutes at the Ono Estadi.

But Ion Velez set up a grandstand finish by pulling a goal back for the visitors, before Fernando Llorente headed home a stoppage-time equalizer to claim