Deportivo 3 - Oviedo 0

Deportivo: Molina; Manuel Pablo, Naybet, Donato, Romero (Capdevila 70'); Mauro Silva, Emerson; Víctor (Scaloni 37'), Djalminha, Fran; Makaay (Pandiani 82'). 4-2-3-1.
Oviedo: Esteban; Pablo Suárez, Keita, Martinovic, Boris; Amieva, Onopko, Jaime (Oscar 73'), Rubén Reyes (Iván Ania 60'); Losada (Rubén 44'), Oli. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Depor: Molina, Djalminha, Turu Flores for Songo'o, Valerón, Fernando / Oviedo: Pablo Suárez, Jaime, Rubén Reyes for Danjou, Tomic, Iván Ania.

Goals:
1-0. 10. Djalminha. Direct free kick from outside of area.
2-0. 52. Makaay. Ran on to deep pass from Emerson and shot across Esteban.
3-0. 73. Djalminha. Chipped shot from front of area.

If ever a game were to be considered a home banker it had to be this one. League champions Deportivo have remained undefeated at home in the league since 5th January, with their only defeat all year in the Riazor stadium coming against AC Milan at the start of this month in the Champions League. Oviedo meanwhile have not only failed to win any of their games outside of their Nuevo Tartiere stadium, they have yet to score away from home. And it never looked as if things would be any different in this match when in the tenth minute Djalminha, back in the side after a two match suspension, struck a free kick past the Oviedo keeper Esteban. Radomir Antic even changed the tactic he has been employing all season, and with Danjou and Tomic both suspended he played four midfielders in line instead of his usual diamond shape, but little good it did.

Oviedo did at least create some chances but the jinx remained, Oli even seeing his penalty kick saved by Molina late in the game. The Depor keeper, back in the side after recovering from an injury, had stopped a point blank shot from the same player in the first minutes of the game, and Oli also hit the crossbar with a shot at the beginning of the second half. But other than that Deportivo dominated the game easily, even though they tried to complicate things too much when the easy ball down the wings was the simplest route to goal. Onopko cleared off the line from Makaay and the Dutch striker saw another shot saved by Esteban in the first half, and Víctor claimed a penalty for a possible foul by Martinovic which referee Prados García turned down. A few minutes from half time Losada crashed in to Molina at full pelt, and the crack was heard throughout the ground. Losada was carried off in agony, his leg broken in two places, and he will probably miss the rest of the season. It was a body blow for Oviedo, who rely heavily on his partnership with Oli, and Rubén came on in his place.

But the night belonged to Djalminha. Some sections of the crowd were whistling at him after his ridiculous sending off two matches ago, but he shut them up with two more moments of genius in the second half, the first a back heel which started the move for the second, and then a shot from the edge of the area which left Esteban no chance. The controversial forward put his finger to his lips, by coincidence the same gesture that Carew got himself sent off for elsewhere, and then was seen talking to himself and applauding ironically to the crowd. He was back, and on a night when others were disappointing he made the difference. Other than that Depor did not create many chances, with the best effort in the second half coming from Scaloni who had replaced Víctor as a precautionary measure in the first half when the winger complained of a twisted knee. With Valencia dropping two points Depor move up to within a point of them and Real Madrid at the top, four points clear of fourth placed Barcelona. Oviedo's home record keeps them in ninth place, but they are hoping that a change of year will bring better fortune in their outings. They couldn't do worse.