Eurosport - Mon, 29 Sep 10:55:00 2008
Valencia made it four wins from five to go top of La Liga with a comprehensive 4-2 defeat of Deportivo.
The home side fell behind to an Emiliano Moretti own-goal on 11 minutes, but deservedly drew level just after the half-hour mark, when the influential Mata headed home Juaquin's right-wing cross.
The second half was one-way traffic, and Valencia went ahead five minutes in when David Villa latched on to fine work from Mata to fire home.
Mata was the creator once more on 69 minutes, with Juaquin timing his run to perfection to effectively end the game as a contest with a neat finish.
Villa then got his second and Valencia's fourth, passing into an empty net after yet more unselfishness from Mata - who squared to the striker when he could easily have gone on himself.
There was still time for Lafita to steal a late consolation for the visitors, running through to finish with aplomb, but the night belonged to Valencia - who have now earned 13 points from a possible 15 and sit on top of the La Liga table.
Racing Santander 1-2 Mallorca
Pierre Webo's late strike gave Mallorca an impressive win at Racing Santander to move them up to 10th place in the Primera Liga after five games.
Ivan Marcano struck to give Racing the lead after 22 minutes, but Fernando Varela equalised for Mallorca on the stroke of half-time and Webo popped up with the winner four minutes from time.
Almeria 1-0 Recreativo Huelva
Alvaro Negredo scored deep into injury time to give Almeria a last-gasp victory over Recreativo Huelva.
The striker slotted home in the fourth minute of added time after Albert Crusat's shot rebounded off a post, handing the hosts a much-needed win.
Gonzalo Arconada's men were beaten 2-0 by Real Valladolid in midweek to tarnish an otherwise impressive start to the season, but they bounced back in dramatic fashion to stay seventh in the standings after five games.
Malaga 1-2 Valladolid
Malaga finally bagged their first goals of the Primera Liga season to climb out of the bottom three with victory over Real Valladolid.
The home side had failed to score in 360 minutes of top-flight football since winning promotion last season, but broke their duck when Manuel Lolo put them ahead.
Adrian Lopez doubled his side's lead 10 minutes into the second half, but they were forced to endure a nervous end to the game when Pedro Leon pulled one back for the visitors in the 65th minute.
Malaga survived the expected late onslaught though to move two points clear of the relegation zone.
Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Getafe
Getafe claimed a dramatic late win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday thanks to a stunning strike from midfielder Javier Casquero.
Casquero picked the ball up near the halfway line and pushed into Athletic's half before lobbing Gorka Iraizoz from 30 yards with a superb left-footed chip to give Victor Munoz's side their first win since the opening day of the season.
The midfielder was not the only hero for Getafe though, as goalkeeper Jacobo Sanz was in inspired form to shut out an Athletic team that dominated the game.
Jacobo, on loan from Real Valladolid, was named in the starting line-up for Getafe with first-choice goalkeepers Roberto Abbondanzieri and Oscar Ustari still out injured.
Numancia 0-0 Osasuna
Numancia and Osasuna shared the points in a low-quality clash at Los Pajaritos on Sunday afternoon.
Neither side looked like scoring in a fixture which also saw Numancia finish the game with 10 men following the late dismissal of Juan Carlos Moreno.
With just four rounds of the championship completed before this encounter, talk of a relegation clash seemed premature.
But both of these sides had begun the season poorly and came into this game with just three points apiece
Athletico Madrid 0-1 Sevilla
Luis Fabiano's brilliant free-kick earned Sevilla a deserved 1-0 win in their trip to fellow high-flyers Atletico Madrid.
The Brazilian striker's curling first-half effort proved the difference between the two sides in a clash that did not quite live up to its billing as a potential feast of attacking football.
This corresponding fixture last season produced seven goals and Atletico had won their previous three home matches 4-0 so expectations were high for another entertaining encounter at the Vicente Calderon.
It was not to be though as clear-cut goalscoring opportunities were at a premium between two teams who are outside bets for a title challenge this season.
Comment 1 - 2 of 2
Which is why they're top. Clever comment Nicy. So Chelsea, Hamburg and Lyon are soooooooooo lame are they? Think before you breathe, weirdo
valencia are soooooooooooooo lame
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