Valladolid 0 - Betis 2

Valladolid: Ricardo; Torres Gómez, Peña, Tena, Marcos; Fernando Sales (Cuauhtèmoc 70'), Lozano (Eusebio 46'), Ricchetti, Fernando; Tote, Turu Flores (Caminero 79'). 4-4-2.
Betis: Prats; Varela, Juanito, Filipescu, Luis Fernández; Ito, Calado; Joaquín (Benjamín 53'), Capi, Denilson; Casas (Amato 65'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Valladolid: Fernando Sales for Caminero / Betis: Juanito for Belenguer.

Goals:
0-1. 52. Varela. Lofted shot from 30 metres which caught keeper off line.
0-2. 71. Denilson. Shot from outside area after Capi laid across free kick.

Betis moved up to joint second in the league alongside Deportivo with their third victory in a row against a struggling Valladolid. Juande Ramos put out a virtually unchanged side, with the only change defender Juanito coming in for the suspended Belenguer. Although the home side saw more of the ball in the first half, most of the chances fell to Betis, with the on form Capi and Denilson bringing good saves out of Ricardo. Tote had a claim for a penalty turned down early in the second half, but a couple of minutes later Betis took the lead, Varela seeing the keeper out of his goal and beating him with a long shot.

Denilson added the second a few minutes later when Capi played a free kick along the edge of the area when everyone was expecting a cross, and the the three points were on their way to Sevilla. Both Betis and their manager (formerly with Rayo) have won their last five games at the Nuevo Zorilla, albeit that one of the Betis wins came in the back office after Valladolid's manager at the time Sergio Kresic had illegally fielded too many non-EU players for a few minutes. Their new man Pepe Moré will have his work cut out this season as his team slide into the bottom half of the table.