Athletic Bilbao 1 - Valencia 1

Bilbao: Lafuente; Larrainzar, Lacruz, Roberto Rios, Larrazábal; Urrutia (Asensio 85'), Orbaiz; Javi González, Tiko, Yeste (Felipe 82'); Urzaiz (Cuéllar 80'). 4-2-3-1.
Valencia: Cañizares; Ayala, Djukic, Pellegrino, Carboni; Mendieta, Baraja, Milla (Angulo 65'), Vicente; Juan Sánchez (Diego Alonso 70'), Carew. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Bilbao: Larrainzar, Larrazábal, Orbaiz, Javi González, Tiko, Yeste for Alkorta, Del Horno, Felipe, Oscar Vales, Lasa, Julen Guerrero / Valencia: Pellegrino, Milla, Juan Sánchez for Angloma, Albelda, Ilie.

Goals:
1-0. 13. Urrutia. Shot from outside of area after Urzaiz laid ball back with forearm.
1-1. 81. Carew. Took pass from Mendieta, turned and shot wide of keeper.

Valencia held on to top spot in the last match of the year thanks once again to a late goal from John Carew, his third in a row in the league and his eighth of the season. His goal gave his side a point, but he then got himself sent off by referee Pérez Burrull in the celebrations after scoring for supposedly provoking the crowd. In fact the young Norwegian only did what many players have done before, putting his finger to his lips to quieten them and then holding a hand up to his ear to listen for the silence. Valencia appealed, and eventually the yellow card and subsequent one match suspension was withdrawn, but too late for the game as Valencia played out the remaining ten minutes or so with ten men. Carew has been the success story of the season at Valencia, helping fans forget the absence of Piojo López, and he with his recent strike partner Adrian Ilie injured, he was joined by Juan Sánchez up front. Pellegrino replaced Angloma, also given a three match suspension last week under controversial circumstances, and Milla replaced Albelda who aggravated a muscle strain in the pre-match warm up.

Bilbao have also been dogged by refereeing controversy, and they were missing two of their defenders, Del Horno and Oscar Vales, both suspended. However they were able to count on striker Ismael Urzaiz after one of his two yellow cards from his last match was cancelled on appeal, a relief for them as otherwise they would not have had any forwards available for this game, with Joseba Etxeberria, Julen Guerrero, Merino and Ezquerro all injured. Out too were Alkorta and Carlos García, and Txetxu Rojo had to make six changes in a side which picked itself, with two young B team forwards, Cuéllar and Asensio, on the bench and making brief appearances in the second half. Despite the changes Bilbao attacked from the start, and after going close three times it was no surprise when they took the lead, Yeste crossing from the left and Urzaiz laying the ball back for Urrutia to fire a shot past Cañizares from 25 metres out. The Valencia players protested as Urzaiz clearly played the ball with his forearm, but Pérez Burrull ignored their claims and awarded the goal. From that moment on though Bilbao gave up any notion of attack and sat back to wait for Valencia to come at them.

It was a familiar story, and the visitors plugged away for the next hour until they finally got their reward through Carew after Lafuente had kept out a barrage of shots and crosses from all angles. It was only when Valencia equalised and were left with ten men that Athletic came back out of their shell, and by then it was too late. Cúper had his first point at the San Mames stadium on the fifth attempt, and Valencia stay on top of the pack above Real Madrid on goal average, with Deportivo only a point behind. Over the last 12 months Valencia have scored more points than any other team in the league, thanks in large part to their manager. Club president Pedro Cortés is currently trying to hang on to him for next season, although the local press has already taken it for granted that he will go, with Barcelona and Lazio currently favourites to sign him. Bilbao drop to twelfth place, this season's big underachievers. They only need to start believing in themselves to rise up the table, but Rojo has got to let them off their leash for them to do so.