Aduriz scores 2 as Valencia lose again in Spanish league
Aritz Aduriz scored two first-half goals yesterday to give Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 come-frombehind win over Valencia, the only team to have lost all four games to start the season.
Celta Vigo was held to a 0-0 draw at promoted Osasuna and also remained winless. Valencia went ahead with a close-range, left-footed shot by midfielder Alvaro Medran just two minutes into the match at San Mames Stadium.
Veteran striker Aduriz equalized with a header off a free-kick cross in the 24th and scored the winner with a right-footed shot from inside the area into the top corner. “When you go down a goal against a team like Valencia, it’s difficult to come back and we were able to do it,” Aduriz said. “These are difficult matches and we deserve a lot of credit for this victory.”
Valencia’s next chance to rebound is Thursday at home against Alaves. “We have to keep working hard and the victories will come, we haven’t been playing badly,” Valencia defender Martin Montoya said. “We know that our team is capable of improving and getting the results that we deserve.”
Valencia is the last team other than Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid to win the league title. It lifted the trophy in 2004.
Later Sunday, Real Madrid plays at Espanyol with a chance to win its fourth in a row and remain three points ahead atop the standings. Madrid can match the record of 16 consecutive wins in the Spanish league achieved by Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in the 2010-11 season.
Defending champion Barcelona won 5-1 at Leganes on Saturday to reach nine points along with Las Palmas, which defeated Malaga 10.Atletico Madrid routed Sporting Gijon 5-0 to win its second consecutive game and reach eight points.
OSASUNA 0, CELTA VIGO 0
Celta Vigo and Osasuna remained winless in the Spanish league, and in trouble.
The result left Celta, which secured a Europa League spot with its sixth-place finish last season, is second-to-last after four matches, following three straight losses to start the season.
Osasuna, which had lost two in a row, is in 18th place with two points. —AP