Alavés 4 - Rayo Vallecano 2

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Eggen, Téllez, Geli; Desio, Pablo (Karmona 55'); Tomic, Jordi Cruyff (Azkoitia 70'), Ibon Begoña; Javi Moreno (Iván Alonso 55'). 4-2-3-1.
Rayo: Keller; Alcázar (Iván Iglesias 60'), Urbano, Ballesteros, Setvalls; Glaucio (Bolo 80'), Quevedo, Poschner, Michel; Luis Cembranos (Bartelt 60'), Bolic. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Alavés: No change / Rayo: Alcázar, Setvalls, Glaucio, Quevedo for De Quintana, Mingo, Iván Iglesias, Helder.

Goals:
0-1. 21. Michel. Following up after Herrera blocked shot from Bolic.
1-1. 44. Javi Moreno. Glancing header after cross from Ibon Begoña on left wing.
2-1. 46. Tomic. From close up after cross by Begoña on right.
3-1. 50. Ibon Begoña. Shot into open goal after unselfish pass by Javi Moreno.
3-2. 83. Bolic. Beat keeper with shot from edge of area.
4-2. 92. Contra. Controlled pass from left, beat defender and shot into top of net.

Alavés and Rayo Vallecano met at the Mendizorroza stadium for the second time in four days, with once again the home side running out victors. Chance had thrown them together in the league during the same week that they were scheduled to play their unprecedented UEFA cup quarter final tie, with both teams vying for a spot high enough up in the table to allow them to return to European competition next season. With a 3-0 victory in the bag from the first leg, Mané decided to stick to the same team, whereas in the other changing room Juande Ramos rested De Quintana and had to leave out Mingo and Helder, both injured.

Carmona Méndez, the referee who was appointed for this match, pulled out at short notice with an illness, and Turienzo Alvarez stepped in. The new referee though obviously had his thought elsewhere, or maybe he was unhappy about having to cancel a date with the office bombshell or something, as he made mistake upon mistake which negatively influenced the course of the game. Everything blew up as Alavés were coming back into contention shortly before the interval. Contra won the ball unfairly off Michel, and as the Rayo players were calling for a foul, Ibon Begoña chased down the left wing and swung the ball across for Javi Moreno to head into the net. That levelled the scores at 1-1 after Michel's earlier strike, and in the ensuing protests Quevedo was shown a second yellow card and had to leave the pitch.

The visitors were still fuming after the break, and Alavés took advantage to score twice, Ibon Begoña laying on the first for Tomic and then getting on the scoresheet himself a few minutes later. Mané started to rest players already thinking about the UEFA cup second leg on Thursday, bringing on Karmona to cover for Téllez who got himself sent off, but Rayo's blood was up, and after Herrera had saved from Michel and the same player had hit the post, Bolic narrowed the gap with a well struck shot. Michel was inspired, and only a great save from Herrera stopped him scoring the equaliser. But then Alavés delivered the sucker punch, Contra beating Keller in the second minute of time added on to secure the three points. Alavés hold on to seventh place, moving two points closer to Villarreal and leaving Rayo down in the bottom half of the table four points behind them. The referee ended the match with a sum total of twelve yellow cards and two reds, leading Mané to say that he had never seen anyone make so many mistakes in 90 minutes of football. And his side won!