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Valencia make winning start under new boss Lopez
Newly appointed Valencia coach Antonio Lopez got off to a winning start when his side fought their way back from a goal down to claim their first success in seven outings with a classy 2-1 victory over Real Betis on Sunday.
Last season's top scorer Mista notched the winner 18 minutes from time when he put the final touch to a beautifully fashioned move by coolly slotting the ball past Betis keeper Toni Doblas. The win lifted Valencia into fourth in the table, level with Betis and Espanyol, and one point behind Sevilla who were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Racing Santander earlier on Sunday. Sevilla are eight points behind second-placed Real Madrid who slipped to their second defeat in a row when they lost 2-0 to a dominant Deportivo Coruna on Saturday. Real's defeat allowed arch-rivals Barcelona to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points despite the fact that they were held to a 1-1 draw by basement side Numancia in an almost unplayable pitch in Soria. Sunday's match of the day was at El Sadar where Malaga continued their impressive revival with a 6-1 crushing of nine-man Osasuna, who have now gone eight games without a win. The outstanding Miguel Angel opened the flood gates with a well taken strike in the fourth minute and new signing Fernando Baiano scored his first goals for the club when he weighed in with a goal either side of halftime.
UNPROMISING START Rafael Benitez's former assistant Lopez got off to an unpromising start as Valencia boss as he watched his side go a goal down and miss a penalty in the first 18 minutes. Brazilian free kick expert Marcos Assuncao curled the ball over the wall and past Valencia keeper Santiago Canizares after he had been fouled on the edge of the area to put Betis ahead in the 12th minute. Valencia were then awarded a controversial penalty when the referee penalised Betis for what appeared to be an accidental handball, but Fabio Aurelio's spot kick was saved brilliantly by the outstretched Doblas. The home side's luck finally changed just before the half hour when midfielder Ruben Baraja rose above the Betis defence to head into the corner after Fabio Aurelio had outwitted a defender and dinked a neat cross into the area. Assuncao almost restored the Betis lead with another free kick on the stroke of halftime, but this time his shot rebounded off the bar with Canizares beaten. Valencia showed none of the nervousness that has marked their recent performances and laid siege to the Betis goal for most of the second period and twice hit the post before they eventually got their reward. Pablo Aimar, Francisco Rufete and Fabio Aurelio exchanged a dizzying series of passes to slice their way through the Betis defence to set Mista free to guide home past Doblas. Betis were reduced to 10 men immediately after when Assuncao was sent off for protesting that the goal was offside.
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