Weekend round up

This is becoming a bit of a habit now, but if Liverpool insist on playing at a time I can't motherfucking watch them, then I'll just have to keep linking you up to the official match report. Sometimes, I wish I could just not bother with work, I miss my weekends.

Still, my Spanish boys are rather a lot nicer, and they play in the evenings, so I can usually catch the games. Valencia started the weekend in second and a win would see them finish there, regardless of other results. The started very brightly indeed, scoring in the first minute. In fact, I'd barely had time to change out of my work clothes and into my Valencia shirt. They were back to their counter attacking best, and the chaos of the midweek Copa del Rey game seemed to be totally forgotten. Dahveed then scored to make it 2-0, though his goal celebration had me a bit confused. Could there be another Veeyah baby on the way? The less said about that, the better I think. Mata had a goal disallowed for offside (how many times have I written THIS since the start of the season??) and Silva had several missed chances, but overall, they were the better team. Renan had a great first half, I'm choosing to ignore the few WTF moments he had. And then, just before half time...Villareal scored. 2-1 at half time.

The second half...well, Mata was fouled but no penalty was given. Ok, in all fairness, it would have been a slightly harsh PK, he did get the ball before the man. But still, bb Mata is not a climbing frame for your enjoyment, thank you. In terms of fouls and bad blood, this wasn't much like a proper derby. Sure, there were fouls, like in any regular football game, but nothing too extreme. Then Del Horno came on for Moretti just past the hour mark. Dahveed missed another good chance to score, but the lengthy close up I got of him when he got up made it all worth it. Albiol got subbed off on 72 minutes (and I really hope it's not a serious injury, he got ice on it straight away, whatever it was) which was kinda depressing, because Valencia cannot afford to lose any more defenders right now. And then, not too long after that, Silva put in a fab cross, only for Dahveed to put the ball over from about 3 yards out. Don't ask me how he managed that, it seemed a lot harder to put the ball out than to score. The nightmare happened on 76 minutes. Villareal equalised. It wasn't a nightmare for long though, Villareal had only been level for about 2 minutes when Edu scored to make it 3-2 to the home team.

Vicente and Alexis were in the crowd watching. I am still rather mad at Vic for being an idiot and getting sent off against Racing, Valencia really could have done with him out there today. But he looked hot, so I won't complain. A goalmouth scramble in 89 should have lead to a Valencia goal, but somehow, the ball stayed out. It was a very interesting game though, one of the reasons I love La Liga is that the dramz carry on right up to the final whistle. It finished 3-3 and that leaves Valencia third following Sevilla's win earlier. I just hope the teams below them lose/draw so they stay there.

And just because I feel this was a big moment for him (and we all know how I feel about that armband...) Santi was captain :D