Athletic Bilbao 1 - Sevilla 1

Athletic:Lafuente; Larrainzar, Alkorta, Carlos García, Felipe; Alkiza, Urrutia; Etxeberria, Guerrero, Tiko; Urzaiz. 4-2-3-1.
Sevilla: Olsen; Héctor, Marchena, Hibic, Tabaré, Nando; Quevedo, Angel, Juric; Víctor; Juan Carlos, Zalayeta. 5-3-2.

Team changes: Bilbao: Larrainzar, Carlos García, Tiko, Etxeberria for Lacruz, Ferreira, Lasa, Edu Alonso / Sevilla: Nando for Víctor.

Goals:
1-0. 38. Etxeberria. Beat Olsen close up after Tiko pulled ball back from goal line
1-1. 76. Juan Carlos. Received pass from Jesuli and hit angled shot past Lafuente.

A controversial decision by infamous linesman Rafa Guerrero in the last minute robbed Sevilla of what would have been their second win in a row. Quevedo and Juan Carlos beat the offside trap in a counter-attack and advanced upon Lafuente's goal. Juan Carlos hung back behind Quevedo to remain onside, and as the keeper came out, Quevedo passed across for Juan Carlos to score. A perfectly good goal (as all media experts unanimously agree), but Rafa raised his flag for offside and referee Rodriguez Santiago disallowed it. Sevilla were livid and Juan Carlos got a yellow card for his protests, but the result stands. After the match there was stupid talk of a conspiracy against Sevilla by their acting president Roberto Alés which upset the refereeing authorities, but his anger at least was understandable. If ever there was a strong case for the fourth referee to do something useful rather than count how many minutes have been lost, this was it. Other sports use television action replays to decide when there is a doubt, taking the tension out of such moments, and avoiding the sort of regrettable scenes which followed this incident. The refereeing bodies are against it, but surely it can only improve the game. Climbing off my hobbyhorse and back to the match, the result left Sevilla five points adrift at the bottom of the table on 27 points, and they have little time left to recover the eight point difference between them and salvation. Caretaker manager Juan Carlos Álvarez only made one change to last week's side, bringing in an extra defender Nando in a five-man defence. Tsartas was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card in the last match. Luis Fernández produced his usual string of changes, although this time mainly due to suspensions and injuries, with Joseba, Tiko, Carlos García and Larrainzar all returning to the side. There was no place though for keeper Imanol, with youngster Lafuente starting for the first time in front of his home crowd. Apart from a header against the post by Zalayeta, the first half belonged to Athletic, with Etxeberria opening the scoring after excellent work by Tiko, who pulled the ball across the goal from an impossible position on the goal line. Earlier Olsen had saved from Tiko, and he also stopped a free kick from Julen Guerrero. At half time Alkorta had to go off with a rib injury, Ferreira coming on in his place, and Álvarez put on his young midfielder Jesuli in place of Marchena to add spice to the attack. Once again he made a difference, bringing a good save out of Lafuente and setting up Juan Carlos for the equaliser. He also cleared a header from Urzaiz off the line in injury time to save the draw. Once again Bilbao disappointed, having now gone seven games without a win, and they are now in twelfth place, a far cry from their early days this season when they looked like clear candidates for a European place. They at least got a point thanks to Guerrero, although not Julen this time, but Rafa (no relation by the way). Having been victims of bad refereeing decisions all season, it was in some way poetic justice. Don't try telling that to Roberto Alés though.

Espanyol 1 - Racing Santander 0

Espanyol: Cavallero; Cristóbal, Pochettino, Nando, Roger; Velamazán, Galca, Sergio, Arteaga; De Lucas; Martín Posse. 4-4-1-1.
Racing: Lemmens; Mellberg, Tais, Arzeno, Sietes; Espina; Manjarín, Vivar Dorado, Amavisca; Munitis, Salva. 4-1-3-2.

Team changes: Espanyol: De Lucas for Tamudo / Racing: Espina for Colsa.

Goals: 1-0. 58. Velamazán. First time volley from 30 metres after defensive clearance.

Another spectacular goal from the Espanyol midfield gave them the three points in this match to move them further away from trouble. If last week it was Arteaga from the halfway line, this time it was Toni Velamazán with a brilliant first time volley from 30 metres out, hitting the ball as it fell after the Racing defence headed clear a corner. Espanyol caretaker manager Paco Flores is starting to get results, and his side have now moved up to ninth place in the league. One of the reasons for his success is the stability in the side, with the same hard core of players every week. He was only forced to make one change, and with Tamudo out injured, Posse moved further forward and De Lucas, now reconciled with his manager after a small tiff, played in a position behind the striker. Benítez kept to the 4-1-3-2 formation which brought him a victory at Mallorca last week, Espina returning after a one match suspension in place of Colsa as the '-1-'. The packed midfields controlled the game, and neither side was able to create many chances. Espanyol were missing an out and out striker, and although Serrano and Manel eventually came on for the front two near the end, they got no support. Racing's international forward line, Salva and Munitis, were kept under control, and although Salva did get a couple of chances near the end, the league's top scorer has not got his name on the scorecard since the end of January. Other than that the best chances fell to the home side, with Posse hitting a post five minutes from half time, and Lemmens saving from Roger a couple of minutes later. Benítez brought on Colsa, Txema and Bestchastnykh in the second half as they looked for an equaliser, but Espanyol were up to it, with Navas replacing Sergio to add an extra defender. The 18,000 crowd went home happy, partly for the result, but also because they were all given a free ticket for another match as part of a promotion drive by the club to fill the ground. Like true Catalans, they don't miss a good bargain ('la pela es la pela'). Racing meanwhile drop back into the relegation struggle, and they are now in 15th place only three points above Oviedo in 18th position. They desperately need Salva to get back into form to save their season. He is however a marked man these days.