Betis 3 - Osasuna 1

Betis: Doblas; Melli, Juanito, Rivas, Luis Fernández (Varela 70'); Marcos Assunçao (Cañas 74'), Arzu; Joaquín, Edu, Fernando (Benjamín 84'); Oliveira. 4-2-3-1.
Osasuna: Elía; Izquierdo, Cuéllar, Josetxo, Corrales; Valdo, Puñal, Muñoz, Delporte (Aloisi 87'); Morales (Milosevic 63'), Webó (Moha 53'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Betis: Joaquín, Fernando for Cañas, Varela / Osasuna: Cuéllar, Valdo, Muñoz, Delporte for Cruchaga, David López, Pablo García, Moha.

Goals:
1-0. 11. Marcos Assunçao. Shot from outside of the area which bounced past Elia.
1-1. 18. Valdo. Picked up Delporte cross and rounded Luis Fernández to score.
2-1. 37. Rivas. Glancing header with help of Puñal from Assunçao free kick.
3-1. 82. Oliveira. Collected long pass and ran on to shoot wide of keeper.

Osasuna received a standing ovation from the grateful local fans when they came out onto the pitch to play Betis just a few days after knocking their arch-rivals Sevilla out of the cup. But that was all they got after Serra Ferrer's side beat them 3-1 to move back up to the UEFA cup spots.

Marcos Assunçao caught out Elia with a long shot in the tenth minute, the ball taking an awkward bounce to fly past the keeper. But the visitors were level a few minutes later, Morales and Webó both stepping over Delporte's cross allowing Valdo to collect the ball, round his marker and shoot low past Doblas.

Both sides had chances later in the half, but it was the home team who restored the lead from an Assunçao free kick, Rivas claiming the goal (and the referee awarding it to him) although television pictures suggested it was Puñal who actually headed the ball into his own net.

Edu and Oliveira both missed chances to extend the lead soon after the restart, and Oliveira crashed a shot against the foot of the post later on. But Osasuna came back, Doblas saving well from substitute Milosevic, and Moha shooting over the bar.

However Oliveira settled things when he ran on to a long ball to add a third goal near the end, his twelfth of the season in the league, and Joaquín came close to making it four when he shot over the bar in the dying minutes. The win means Betis move up above Espanyol to sixth, now just one point behind third placed Valencia and fourth placed Sevilla. The race is back on!