Villarreal 1 - Valencia 1

Villarreal: López Vallejo; Galván, Quique Álvarez, Berruet, Arruabarrena; Jorge López (Escoda 60'), Amor, Cagna, Calleja; Víctor, Craioveanu (Moisés 60'). 4-4-2.
Valencia: Cañizares; Anglomá, Djukic (Pellegrino 70'), Ayala, Carboni; Mendieta, Angulo (Zahovic 75'), Baraja (Albelda 70'), Kily González; Juan Sánchez; Carew. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Villarreal: Cagna for Gracia / Valencia: Angulo for Zahovic.

Goals:
0-1. 60. Juan Sánchez. Followed up after keeper only half blocked Kily's shot.
1-1. 64. Moisés. Free kick from well outside of area into roof of net.

The East coast derby ended all square in the Madrigal stadium on Saturday night, with newly promoted Villarreal holding their own against their bigger local rival. Valencia came in to this match on a roll, having won six games on the trot between the Spanish first division and the Champions League, and a win in this game could even have seen them leading the league for the first time since October 1993. Although they have an important game in France on Tuesday night, Héctor Cúper stayed true to form and put out his best side for this match. The manager only made one change to his last team, bringing in Olympian Angulo in place of Zahovic in midfield. With Marioni still sitting out his mega-sanction, Villarreal's manager Víctor Muñoz also only changed one of his players, with Argentina's Cagna returning to the side after an injury. After a bad start to the season, Villarreal are now showing good form, having kept clean sheets for the last four games.

In front of a capacity crowd, both teams got off to a cagey start, with Craioveanu having the first crack at goal in the first quarter of an hour. Villarreal started to dominate the midfield, with Cagna and Amor on better form than a tired Mendieta and a somewhat lost Angulo, and only new international Rubén Baraja kept Valencia in the game. The best chance of the first half fell to Villarreal's Jorge Lopez, but his shot hit the side netting. Valencia took the lead in the second half however, with the league's top scorer Juan Sánchez once again in the right spot at the right time after López Vallejo could only partially block Kily's shot. It was the first goal the keeper had let in in 333 minutes (a fatal 'triple nelson', in cricketing terms), and with Deportivo losing at Madrid, it took Valencia momentarily to the top of the league.

Víctor Muñoz immediately reacted putting on two substitutes, Moisés and Escoda for Jorge López and Craioveanu. It proved an inspired move, as four minutes later his team were level after Moisés struck a glorious free kick from over 30 yards which Cañizares knew little about. Cúper eventually brought on Zahovic, but it was a bit too late, and the match ended in what can be considered a fair draw. Valencia's phenomenal scoring record in earlier games takes them to second in the league above Deportivo and Celta on goal average, but still a point behind leaders Real Madrid. They now change the chip again to go on to play Olympique Lyon on Tuesday night. Villarreal are now a respectable eighth, and their big money spending seems to be paying off for the time being.