Villarreal, Valencia, and Atletico Madrid Earn La Liga Wins

Recreativo Huelva 1 - Villarreal 2 (La Liga, November 30, 2008) First half goals from Santi Cazorla and Ariel Ibagaza saw Villarreal move into a comfortable lead at the break (first half highlights here), and the Yellow Submarine never looked in danger of relinquishing the three points despite a late reply from Adrian Colunga.

Valencia 3 - Real Betis 2 (La Liga, November 30, 2008) Valencia took the lead when David Villa volleyed home after a well-worked attack from the home side. Mata doubled the lead after 20 minutes with a fine solo goal. After the break Betis got a foothold in the match with a Juanma strike that went in the near post. And after Marchena was sent off, Emana drew the visitors level from the spot, only for Rubin Baraja to restore Valencia’s advantage in the 73rd minute.

Almeria 0 - Deportivo La Coruna 1 (La Liga, November 30, 2008) Negredo was sent off on 52 minutes for Depor before Verdu hit a 67th minute penalty against the bar. But Verdu quickly made amends with the winner on 75 minutes.

Espanyol 0 - Sporting Gijon 1 (La Liga, November 30, 2008) Carmelo smashed a 29th minute shot into the top corner to earn Sporting a win at Espanyol.

Malaga 4 - Osasuna 2 (La Liga, November 30, 2008) After a scoreless first half, Malaga went in front on 56 minutes through Apono’s penalty after Javier Calleja had been brought down by Juanfran. Nabil Bahar headed home Adrian’s cross for 2-0 on 62 minutes before Osasuna drew level through headers from Javad Nekounam and Miguel Flano on 79 and 81 minutes.

But Albert Luque restored Malaga’s lead on 84 minutes and Apono played in Eliseu to clinch the win two minutes into injury-time.

Athletic Bilbao 2 - Numancia 0 (La Liga, November 30, 2008) Bilbao lifted themselves out of the bottom three in the table as Fernando Llorente scored both goals over Numancia, who now slip into the relegation zone.

Valladolid 3 - Mallorca 0 (La Liga, November 30, 2008)

Atletico Madrid 4 - Racing Santander 1 (La Liga, November 30, 2008)