Valladolid 2 - Alavés 1

Valladolid: Bizzarri; Torres Gómez, García Calvo, Heinze, Marcos; Fernando Sales (Caminero 70'), Eusebio, Richetti (Jesús 68'), Antonio López; Ciric (Fernando 90'), Alberto. 4-4-2.
Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Karmona, Téllez, Geli; Tomic, Desio; Astudillo (Eggen 60'), Jordi Cruyff, Ibon Begoña (Magno 75'); Javi Moreno. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Valladolid: Bizzarri, Fernando Sales, Eusebio, Antonio López for Ricardo, Peña, Caminero, Chema / Alavés: Astudillo for Magno.

Goals:
1-0. 49. Alberto. Headed over keeper after long free kick from Eusebio.
1-1. 55. Javi Moreno. Defensive error by Heinze let him through to score.
2-1. 73. Ciric. Ran on to loose ball after defence failed to clear.

Something had to give. Alavés had been undefeated away all season, and Valladolid had never lost at home to Alavés. In the end it was Valladolid who came out on top, thanks to a late strike by Ciric and a good performance by Bizzarri, making his debut in goal at the Zorrilla stadium. The Argentinian keeper was one of four changes made by Pancho Ferrarro in an attempt to kick start their season after dropping to sixteenth in the league. Mané returned to his first choice line up after resting key players in their UEFA cup tie midweek, with Astudillo coming back after an injury.

After an interesting first half where either side could have taken the lead, Alberto broke the ice with a header over the keeper. But Javi Moreno has not failed to score in any away match this season, and he kept up his record with an equaliser a few minutes later. Marcos struck the post and both keepers made good saves before Ciric got the winner a quarter of an hour before full time. In the last minute this year's leading 'white stick award' referee Daudén Ibáñez sent off last year's leading villain Téllez for a high tackle on Caminero, who apparently insulted the player's mother. Valladolid recover to eleventh and Alavés lose out on a chance to go top of the table for the first time ever, which they would have done had they won this game by four clear goals. They are still fourth however, and with the teams above them losing they do not lose touch with the leaders.