Fernandes puts Los Che back on top

A second-half goal from Manuel Fernandes gives Valencia a 1-0 victory at Real Valladolid and saw them regain top spot in the Primera Liga.

Valencia's Manuel Fernandes, right, is congratulated for his goal against Valladolid by his teammate David Villa.

MADRID // A second-half goal from Manuel Fernandes gave Valencia a 1-0 victory at Real Valladolid and saw them regain top spot in the Primera Liga yesterday. The victory helped Los Che draw alongside Villarreal on 16 points from six games but they have the superior goal difference. Earlier on Sunday, Sevilla moved to within two points of the pacesetters with a 4-0 demolition of Athletic Bilbao. The Mali striker Frederic Kanoute broke the deadlock after a scrappy opening from Sevilla, slipping home the opener on 26 minutes after an error from the Bilbao defender Mikel Balenziag.

Renato doubled the lead five minutes before the break and second-half goals from Adriano Correia and Ernesto Chevanton completed the rout which put Sevilla on 14 points. Sporting Gijon broke a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 win at Real Mallorca which lifted them from the bottom of the table at the expense of Real Betis, who lost 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. Almeria scored twice in the final minutes to carve out a 2-2 draw at Getafe, Alvara Negredo scoring with three minutes to go and Chico adding a second a minute into injury time to earn a point that put them in sixth spot.

Real Madrid drew against visitors Espanyol 2-2 after a hard fight in the Santiago Bernabeu, breaking a six-match winning streak and knocking them down to fifth place. Raul Tamudo put away a penalty to give the visitors an early lead but it was quickly matched by a low header from Madrid's Raul. Tense end-to-end play put Espanyol in the lead briefly after a chip in by striker Luis Garcia before Raul slipped through the visitors defence and brought Madrid equal once again minutes before the break. The second half belonged to Espanyol's goalkeeper Carlos Kameni who knocked away repeated attempts by the home team to retake the lead.

*Reuters

Deportivo Coruna 1-0 Numancia Getafe 2-2 Almeria Osasuna 0-1 Racing Santander Real Madird 2-2 Espanyol Real Mallorca 0-2 Sporting Gijon Real Valladolid 0-1 Valencia Recreativo Huelva 0-4 Malaga Sevilla 4-0 Athletic Bilbao