La Liga round-up: Negredo returns to haunt former club

Sport360 staff 12:32 18/01/2015
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  • Handy: Alvaro Negredo scored 32 goals in 73 games at Almeria.

    Alvaro Negredo came off the bench to head in the decisive goal as Valencia beat his old club Almeria 3-2 last night.

    – Real Madrid and Barcelona prepare for La Liga title fight

    Valencia had seen first-half goals by Dani Parejo and Rodrigo Moreno cancelled out by two strikes from Almeria’s top scorer Tomer Hemed and looked to be heading for a third game without a win – until Negredo sent a header crashing into the net with seven minutes left.

    Winning this game in such dramatic fashion will be a shot in the arm to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side after exiting the Copa del Rey to Espanyol in midweek, and they remain well in the race for a Champions League spot after picking up the three points.

    Eleven minutes were on the clock when Parejo charged towards the area and played the ball wide to Antonio Barragan before racing into the box to steer his teammate’s cross in at the near post.

    But instead of building on their lead Valencia were pegged back by their opponents and found themselves level two minutes later.

    Arsenal loanee Wellington Silva was allowed to skip down the left wing and cross for Hemed, who moved untracked across the sixyard box to poke home.

    Valencia re-took the lead shortly before the half-hour mark. Andre Gomes released Paco Alcacer with a low ball into the box and the forward, perhaps meaning to shoot, squared the ball to Rodrigo, who slotted into an empty net.

    Almeria hit back five minutes later. Hemed rose to meet Verza’s cross but got a touch of fortune as the ball deflected off the head of Gomes to wrong foot Diego Alves.

    The forward then came close to grabbing a hat-trick, heading another Verza corner off the bar. Valencia were far more dominant in the second-half and began peppering the visiting goal.

    Gomes saw a shot from the edge of the area saved by Julian Cuesta, and then the midfielder headed just wide. Desperate for the three points, Nuno threw on Negredo with half an hour remaining, and the forward was quickly involved, testing Cuesta twice in the space of a few minutes.

    The 29-year-old – who was a big hit during a two-year spell at Almeria earlier in his career – was then rewarded for his efforts as Jose Luis Gaya used his pace on the left-hand side and sent in a hanging cross to the back post, which Negredo powered into the net with his head.

    Earlier, former Manchester United striker Manucho struck late for Rayo Vallecano to inflict a first home defeat on Real Sociedad manager David Moyes as the Basque side lost 1-0 in San Sebastian.

    Rivals Athletic have more problems, though, as Denis Cheryshev and a Bruno penalty sealed a 2-0 victory for Villarreal, sending them crashing to a fourth-straight loss.

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