Friday, May 18th, 2012
Villarreal 2 Rayo Vallecano 0
Villarreal moved out of the relegation zone with a much needed 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano.
Bruno Soriano and Borja Valero scored either side of half-time, whilst Marcos Senna also had a first-half penalty saved.
Piti should have brought Rayo back into the game but shot wide moments after the second goal and the Madrid side had goalkeeper David Cobeno to thank for keeping the score down as he saved brilliantly from Hernan Perez in the final stages.
Pressure had been mounting on Juan Carlos Garrido before the game with speculation suggesting he would be replaced as manager should Villarreal fail to win the game, and in the first period the Villarreal players certainly seemed to be playing for their manager as they largely controlled proceedings.
The opener came on 20 minutes as Borja’s free-kick found the unmarked Bruno and the Spaniard made no mistake with a solid header past Cobeno.
The goal brought Rayo out of their shell slightly but also made them more susceptible to the Villarreal counter-attack and they were caught out when Javi Fuego brought down Jonathan de Guzman inside the area seven minutes before half-time. However Cobeno flew to his right to parry Senna’s well-struck spot kick.
The second period didn’t start well for the hosts as their only fit striker Marco Ruben had to be replaced by Perez due to a thigh injury.
Borja then gave Villarreal the breathing space they craved as he waltzed through the Rayo midfield and struck and precise left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
Again Rayo responded well to conceding and Michu had a long-range shot parried by Diego Lopez before Piti had the visitors’ best chance of the match but shot across Lopez and beyond the far post when clean through on goal.
Perez should have wrapped the game up with a third goal but Cobeno flicked the ball away from the Paraguayan as he tried to round him.
FT: Villarreal 2 (Bruno 20, Borja 67) Rayo Vallecano 0
Valencia 3 Getafe 1
Sofiane Feghouli scored his first two goals of the season to help Valencia to a routine 3-1 win over Getafe.
The Algerian midfielder put the hosts in front after only 12 minutes as his shot from the edge of the area bounced into the ground and looped over Miguel Angel Moya. The visitors responded with a fine equalising goal as Juan Valera’s cross from the right was headed back across goal by Dani Guiza and expertly flicked in by Diego Castro.
However Valencia were back in front within two minutes as Feghouli made the most of another ricochet in the Getafe area to side-foot the ball home, and the hosts wrapped up the three points when Artiz Aduriz claimed his first goal of the season with 15 minutes remaining.
Getafe haven’t won away from home in the league at all in 2011 so it wasn’t a surprise to see Valencia take the initiative early on. The hosts took the lead when Ever Banega’s corner was only cleared as far as Jonas just outside the box, the Brazilian’s effort was blocked by the Getafe defence but fell to Feghouli who didn’t make the cleanest of contacts but had enough power in the shot to take it past Moya and into the roof of the net.
Manager Luis Garcia has bemoaned Getafe’s inability to turn possession into goals in recent weeks, but they showed the excellent passing football they are capable of in the move for their equaliser on 24 minutes. Neat interplay in midfield sent Valera free down the right and his pinpoint cross found Guiza, who in turn found Castro in plenty of space to backheel the ball into the net.
However as good as Getafe were at one end, at the other they were a shambles as Valencia were handed another sloppy goal. Jonas played in Banega who fell to the floor, and as the Argentine claimed for a penalty, the ball rebounded back off Jonas into Feghouli’s path only eight yards out and he calmly slotted past Moya.
Valencia wasted a few good opportunities on the counter-attack early in the second-half, most notably when Pablo Hernandez put his cross into the stand when he had a queue of teammates waiting to apply the finishing touch in the middle.
Unai Emery then brought on Aduriz for top-scorer Roberto Soldado, almost certainly with an eye to keeping Soldado fresh for Tuesday’s crucial Champions League tie with Bayer Leverkusen, but Aduriz showed his worth as he ran onto a Banega through ball and forced the ball home after Moya had stopped his first effort.
Getafe continued to play the ball around neatly but never looked like getting back into the match and this defeat stretches their run without a win to five games.
FT: Valencia 3 (Feghouli 12, 25, Aduriz 75) Getafe 1 (Castro 24)
Tags: Getafe, Rayo Vallecano, Valencia, Villarreal
