Valencia crushed Sevilla’s resistance with a 3:1 win in La Liga action on Sunday, reviving their hopes for a third place at the finish line: the gap with Sevilla has now shrunk to 5 points.
Julien Escude opened the score for Sevilla at the 9th minute, before Spain international David Villa leveled from the penalty spot at the 45th minute. Villa earned 20 rating points in the game and is now in a very curious position: he now tops the Spanish rating but cannot break into the World Top 23.
Villa is taking his time recovering from an injury and was substituted at the 76th minute by Morientes. Valencia were awarded another penalty at the 83rd minute, after a curious handball by Sevilla’s Fernando Navarro. Mata was right on target to make the score 2:1 for Valencia, which were now playing against 10 men after Sevilla lost Adriano Correia to a red card in the first half. Pablo Hernandes put the final touch for Valencia with the third with a minute to go.
The referee seemed bent on establishing his own record in the game: he flashed 13 yellow and one red card. Sevilla manager Manolo Jimenez was likewise shown to the stands. Sevilla lead striker Frederic Kanoute struggled throughout the game. He was shown a yellow card and lost 12.90 rating points in the end. He now has 178.55 points.
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