Madrid: Emir Spahic`s scrappy goal seven minutes from time gave Sevilla a vital home win against Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga football.
Saturday`s result leaves Osasuna bottom of the Liga, but gives Sevilla some vital breathing space and could possibly have saved the job of coach Michel Gonzalez, who was under increasing pressure following a run of poor results for his side.
Osasuna meanwhile will point to a first half goal from striker Kike Sola, which was disallowed for a possible, but not definite handball, Xinhua reports.
Elsewhere, Pizzi`s 57th minute goal gave new Deportivo la Coruna coach Domingos Paciencia a winning debut as his side climbed off the bottom of the table, thanks to a surprise 1-0 home win against Malaga.
Valencia`s improvement under coach Ernesto Valverde continued with a 2-1 victory away to struggling Granada, who were forced to play for almost an hour due to the harsh expulsion of Mikel Rico.
Granada took the lead through Brayan Angulo, but goals from Jonas Goncalves and Pablo Piatti turned the game around and pointed Valencia in the direction of Europe.
Valencia`s city neighbours, Levante`s exceptional season continued with a 3-1 win at home to Athletic Club Bilbao, who had taken the lead through Aritz Aduriz.
However, the home side reacted and equalised through Christian Lell. Vicente Iborra put Levante ahead before the break, just after Aymeric Laporte had been sent off for the visitors and Nabil El Zhar scored with 20 minutes left.
IANS
First Published: Sunday, January 06, 2013, 15:19