Valencia make 10-man Sevilla pay the penalty

Two penalties helped Valencia down 10-men Sevilla 3-1 on Sunday pushing them up to fourth as they boosted their hopes of Champions League football next season.

Sevilla had taken a ninth minute lead through French centre-back Nicolas Escude but David Villa equalised from the spot and Juan Mata converted another penalty seven minutes from time before substitute Pablo Hernandez added a third to kill off the game.

Valencia go three points above Atletico Madrid and Villarreal and close to within five points of third-placed Sevilla.

Villarreal’s Champions League hopes suffered another setback on Sunday as they drew 0-0 with 10-man Valladolid.

Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi missed a penalty just after the hour mark, with Inaki Bea sent off for conceding the spot-kick, and it proved costly for Villarreal who have collected four points from the last 15.

“We had four or five chances in the second half to win the game,” lamented Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini. “Rossi is our penalty specialist and has converted lots of them but today he didn’t.”

The dropped points are good news for Valencia who showed great character to come from behind to overcome Sevilla.

The visitors had led through Escude but in the 44th minute Brazilian Adriano stupidly hacked down Villa and received a straight red card which proved a turning point in the game.

Sevilla were shocked by the setback and had to endure another a minute later when Escude blocked Juan Mata in the penalty area to give away a spot-kick.

Villa had to wait an age to take the pen but kept his cool to rifle home. Villa then hit the post before going off with a knock and Mata took over penalty duties to score in the 83rd minute after a handball in the area by Fernando Navarro.

Substitute Hernandez scored a third late on and it was sweet revenge for Valencia who lost to Sevilla in the quarter-final of this season’s Kings Cup.

It is a tough time for Sevilla who travel to Barcelona on Wednesday, with goalkeeper Andres Palop suspended for the game after a yellow card against Valencia, before hosting Real Madrid at the weekend.

Barcelona defeated Getafe 1-0 on Saturday to maintain their six-point lead over champions Real who beat Recreativo Huelva by the same scoreline.

Elsewhere, Espanyol did their survival chances the world of good with a 1-0 home win over Racing Santander on Sunday.

Ivan Alonso scored the decisive goal on 56 minutes and Espanyol climbed off bottom at the expense of Numancia but are still four points from safety.

Espanyol have been in the top flight since 1995 and were UEFA Cup finalists as recently as 2007.

Hugo Sanchez’s Almeria also took a giant stride towards safety with a late 2-1 win over Osasuna.

Real Madrid youth product Alvaro Negredo scored both goals, including an 89th minute winner, and Almeria are now seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Two other sides fighting relegation meet later on Sunday when Real Betis entertain Sporting Gijon. Betis are four points above the drop while promoted Sporting are a point worse off.