Valladolid 3 - Deportivo 0

Valladolid: Ricardo; Torres Gómez, Mario, Caminero (Tena 70'), Peña, Marcos; Fernando (Eusebio 75'), Jesús (Lozano 80'), Fernando Sales; Luis García, Tote. 5-3-2.
Deportivo: Molina; Scaloni, Donato, Djorovic, Capdevila; Mauro Silva, Sergio (José Manuel 65'); Víctor, Valerón (Duscher 46'), Fran (Diego Tristán 46'); Makaay. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Valladolid: Mario, Peña, Marcos, Fernando Sales for Santamaría, Tena, Lozano, Cuauhtèmoc Blanco / Deportivo: Scaloni, Djorovic, Capdevila for Héctor, Naybet, Romero.

Goals:
1-0. 30. Marcos. Cut in and shot over Molina from wide out on left of goal.
2-0. 31. Fernando. Shot from outside area which ballooned off Djorovic into net.
3-0. 56. Fernando. Placed header into top corner after cross from Torres Gómez.

Another poor away performance by Deportivo La Coruña, who fell five places down from second to seventh after losing 3-0 to Valladolid. As luck would have it the league fixture fell in between the two quarter final cup legs between the two sides, but having beaten their opponents at the Riazor stadium midweek, this time Depor were a shadow of their normal selves and were caught out by a much better team. Irureta changed his defensive line up for this match, bringing in Scaloni, Capdevila and Djorovic, who has now recovered from the injury which has kept him sidelined since he joined the club in the summer from Celta. Marcos and Peña reappeared for Valladolid after a one match ban, but Cuauhtèmoc was out and Turu Flores was not allowed to play under the contractual conditions of his loan from Depor, so Luis García moved forward to join Tote up front.

Once again Caminero was playing in his new libero role for the home side, which allowed Torres Gómez and Marcos to push forward down the wings. Marcos in particular was causing problems for Scaloni down his flank, and after setting up Luis García for a chance which the defence blocked early on, he went all the way himself to open the scoring with a spectacular strike from a wide angle which took Molina by surprise. Fernando added a second a minute later with a shot which deflected off Djorovic over the keeper, and almost scored again before half time with another effort just wide of the post. Depor by this time had not even had one shot on target, and Irureta brought on Diego Tristán and Duscher for a disappointing Valerón and Fran.

Nothing changed though, and after Molina saved at the feet of Sales, Fernando headed Valladolid's third from an unmarked position. The defeat means that Depor have now only picked up one point from their last seven away games, and for the first time in over two years they drop out of the European spots, albeit level on points with the four teams above them, who all have better goal averages. Valladolid are moving up the table thanks to their good home form (16 points out of a possible 18), and they are now in ninth. The return leg of the cup next Wednesday threatens to be a cracker, and if Valladolid can manage the same result as today they will be in the semi-finals.