Valencia 3 - Mallorca 0

Valencia: Cañizares; Miguel, Raúl Albiol, Marchena, Moretti; Baraja (Fabio Aurelio 74'), Albelda; Angulo, Aimar, Vicente (Regueiro 82'); David Villa (Mista 79'). 4-2-3-1.
Mallorca: Prats; David Cortés, Potenza, Iuliano, Maciel; Pereyra, Farinos (Doni 73'); Jonas Gutiérrez (Campano 54'), Arango, Tuni; Víctor (Okubo 65'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Valencia: No change / Mallorca: David Cortés, Potenza for Campano, Fernando Navarro.

Goals:
1-0. 46. Albelda. First time shot from edge of area after cross from left cleared.
2-0. 66. David Villa. Acrobatic volley from right of goal after Angulo shot saved.
3-0. 80. Fabio Aurelio. Got on the end of Aimar cross to shoot past Prats.

Valencia took advantage of slip ups by the teams above them to move up to the table to third after a 3-0 win over Mallorca. Héctor Cúper returned to his old hunting ground with a defence minded side, and they held their own in a fairly eventless first half. But less than a minute after the restart Albelda put the home side in front with a first time shot from the edge of the area after Vicente's cross was only partly cleared, and after that there was no looking back.

Midway through the second half Valencia went two up, Angulo finding Vicente for him to volley a shot at goal which Prats could only parry up in to the air, David Villa leaping acrobatically to hook the ball in to the net on the far post. And substitute Fabio Aurelio made it three ten minutes from the end after Aimar set him up.

There was still time for Mista to try his luck a couple of times, his first effort being saved by the keeper and his second being tapped in by Angulo who, standing in an offside position, would have been better to have left it alone. But it was a comfortable win, and Quique Flores's side are back in the titel race after picking up 16 points from their last six games.