Madrid, Dec. 6: A Sunday of home wins in the Spanish football league has left Villarreal and Espanyol third and fourth in the standings.
Villarreal beat Sevilla 1-0 and Espanyol overcame lowly Sporting Gijon by the same score.
Once again, Villarreal were invigorated by young strikers Nilmar and Guiseppe Rossi, both of whom are in excellent form this season.
The only goal came in the 30th minute and was another example of the telepathy between them. Rossi set up Nilmar with a clever through-ball and the Brazilian calmly beat veteran Sevilla keeper Andres Palop with a low drive.
Sevilla, whose form is terrible, pressed for an equaliser in the second half, but were unlucky to have a goal from Alvaro Negredo wrongly disallowed for offside.
The latest defeat leaves Sevilla stranded in ninth place.
Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido said: “We knew we were going to meet a strong team and that it would not be easy. Sevilla pressed us strongly, but we knew how to win and take three points.”
Garrido’s team are third, five points behind second-placed Real Madrid and seven behind leaders Barcelona.
Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino said they would keep feet firmly on the ground, and continue to work with humility.
The only goal of a tight clash came 20 minutes from the end when former Spain striker Luis Garcia took a pass from Jose Callejon and scored after rounding Gijon goalkeeper Juan Pablo. Espanyol have won all seven of their home matches, the same as Real Madrid. They are two points above fifth-placed Valencia.
In Sunday’s late match, Real Sociedad beat Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at home.
Pic Caption:
Espanyol’s Jose Callejon (left) vies with Sporting Gijon’s Lora (right) during a Spanish league football match at the El Prat de Cornella stadium in Barcelona on Sunday.