Struggling Osasuna beats Valencia 1-0

PTV – PAMPLONA, Spain’s relegation-threatened Osasuna has beaten Valencia 1-0 in Pampelona to climb out of the danger zone at the bottom of La Liga table.

Osasuna escaped out of the bottom three when it secured a crucial three points at Reyno de Navarra stadium on Sunday, AFP reported.

Although the Pampelona-based club was desperate for a win, the first half ended with no goals.

The deadlock was finally broken in the second half when Alvaro Cejudo’s long-range strike deflected off Valencia defender Marius Stankevicius and ricocheted into the net in the 59th minute.

Iranian midfielder Javad Nekounam played the full match for Osasuna.

In other matches of the week, Villarreal defeated Getafe 2-1, Almeria was downed 1-0 by Sevilla, and Levante tied scoreless against Sporting Gijon.

Barcelona leads the table with 88 points, and Real Madrid stands second with 80 points, followed by Valencia with 63 points.

Leaders Barcelona and Real Madrid were both beaten on Saturday. Barca, who has an eight-point lead over its archrival, lost 2-1 at Real Sociedad and Real suffered a 3-2 home defeat to struggling Real Zaragoza.