The bat clipped the Basques’ wings, the pirates did not capture the submarine – Soccernet.ee

In the Spanish Premier League, Valencia welcomed former coach Ernesto Valverde with a 1-0 win at home at Mestalla, which significantly reduced the Basques’ hopes of remaining in the wind of title contenders.

Valencia, caught on a winning streak, only needed a shot from the team’s top scorer Hugo Duro after an hour to take the lead. Ruben Baraja’s defenses also put an end to a series that was starting to become unpleasant, given that the last time the Bilbao team managed to win eight games in the league was in September 2019.

The fourth consecutive victory will gradually push Valencia into the race for a European place, while Athletic Bilbao, who initially held third place, could drop to fifth place: all that is needed is the victory of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively over Real Betis and Granada. Sunday.

However, Real Sociedad, who beat Celta Vigo 1-0, are also on Valencia’s path. Brais Mendez opened the scoring in the 11th minute and it was the only goal of the match. While Sociedad, who ended their run of four consecutive winless matches, are still in the running for a place at the European Championships, Celta, coached by Rafael Benitez, are still in the danger zone despite a significantly improved league position thanks to two victories in December.

In the second half of the table neither Villarreal nor Mallorca managed to seize the opportunity of success, settling for a 1:1 draw. Alexander Sörloth, who became the Norwegian who has played the most games in La Liga, scored in the extra minutes of the first half, but in the extra minute of the second half, the visitors’ 21-year-old left winger Javi Llabres responded with the same goal. The “Yellow Submarine” has failed to keep a clean sheet for 13 games in a row, but Mallorca’s situation is also not good: both teams are on 20 points and the relegation line is not far behind.

85 – Norwegian players 🇳🇴 with most appearances in @LaLigaEN history:

85 – ALESSANDRO SORLOTH
84 – John Carew
84 – Björn Kvarme
80 – Dan Eggen

Nordics. 🧊 pic.twitter.com/YsJFV1gAMR
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 20, 2024

Las Palmas, another island club, is doing much better, remaining in the top ten after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-0 away from home. However, the fate of the match was decided only in the last ten minutes: first the home team’s left winger Alvaro Garcia received a red card, and two minutes later Javier Munoz scored the second goal of the match.

Results:

Valencia-Athletic Bilbao 1:0 (0:0)

61. Hugo Duro

Villarreal – Mallorca 1:1 (1:0)

45+1. Alexander Sörloth – 90+1. Javi Llabres

Rayo Vallecano-Las Palmas 0:2 (0:1)

35. Alberto Moleiro, 83. Javier Munoz

Elimination: 81. Alvaro Garcia (Rayo)

Celta Vigo – Real Sociedad 0:1 (0:1)

11. Brais Mendez

Classification: