Betis 0 - Zaragoza 1

Betis: Prats; Varela, Rivas, Belenguer, Mingo (Joao Tomas 63'); Gudjonsson, Castaño; César, Capi (Joaquín 10'), Denilson; Amato (Dani 46'). 4-2-3-1.
Zaragoza: Juanmi; Pablo, Rebosio, Aguado, Sundgren; Toro Acuña, José Ignacio; Marcos Vales (Cuartero 84'), Juanele (Yordi 53'), Garitano (Vellisca 75'); Bilic. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Betis: Rivas, Gudjonsson, Castaño, César, Amato for Filipescu, Ito, Calado, Joaquín, Joao Tomas / Zaragoza: Juanmi, Pablo, Rebosio, Sundgren, Marcos Vales, Garitano for Láinez, Cuartero, Paco, Esquerdinho, Chainho, Yordi.

Goals:
0-1. 60. Aguado. Headed down past keeper after corner from right.

Betis hit the headlines midweek when the club president and manager broke up a players' Halloween party at four o'clock in the morning, and several players were left out of the squad as a punishment. With others such as Filipescu on international duty and Ito suspended, Juande Ramos was forced to put together a makeshift starting line up with youngsters Dani and Javi on the bench, although he could count on Denilson after FIFA's decision to allow the South American players to join their squads a day later. The fans were in a foul mood, made worse by an incessant downpour which made the pitch virtually unplayable at times, and the home players were booed and jeered every time they touched the ball, particularly Denilson and Joaquín, who came on for the injured Capi in the tenth minute.

Even so the players did their best, with Juanmi saving from Denilson and Amato going close. Zaragoza had something to prove though after they were knocked out of the UEFA cup midweek by Servette, and Acuña rattled the crossbar with a long shot. Prats saved a long Bilic free kick after the restart, but from the resulting corner Aguado headed down past the keeper and in to the net. That was the only goal of the game, and Betis had paid the price for their midweek follies, failing to capitalize on defeats by the teams immediately above them in the top spots of the table. The three points came as a gift out of the blue to Zaragoza's much criticised manager Txetxu Rojo, and his side move up the table to join a group of five teams on 14 points.