Valencia 1 - Celta 0

Valencia: Cañizares; Ayala, Djukic, Björklund, Carboni; Mendieta (Angulo 84'), Deschamps, Baraja, Kily González (Vicente 92'); Juan Sánchez (Zahovic 70'), Carew. 4-4-2.
Celta: Pinto; Velasco, Cáceres, Djorovic (Coira 60'), Yago, Manolo; Karpin, Doriva (Mostovoi 65'), Giovanella; McCarthy (Edu 46'), Catanha. 5-3-2.

Team changes: Valencia: Deschamps for Zahovic / Celta: Yago for Gustavo López.

Goals:
1-0. 66. Carew. Header into net on far post after headed pass by Kily.

A laboured victory by Valencia against Celta kept them two points clear at the top of the table. Both managers opted for defensive line ups, with Cúper bringing back Deschamps, still swathed in bandages to protect the stitches in his head, in place of the more attacking Zahovic, and Víctor Fernández switching back to the 5-3-2 formation he used for the first time this season in Belgrade against Red Star. Yago came back in defence, with Gustavo López for once being left on the bench, alongside Mostovoi, Jesuli and the exciting Brazilian youngster Edu.

The home crowd though were waiting for Mendieta, victim of some whistles from a small dissident section of supporters in the last match, and they showed their support for their captain with a standing ovation as he came on the pitch. That was just about all they had to cheer about though in the first half, with two shots from Carew leading up to the break waking them from their slumbers. Carew was the danger man throughout, and Pinto pulled off a magnificent save from point blank range early in the second half when the big Norwegian was already celebrating. A few minutes later he did for real, finishing off with a crisp header after Kily headed back a clearance by Pinto from Mendieta's free kick. Cúper pulled off Sánchez, replacing him with Zahovic to consolidate the result, but on the other side Víctor had already used up his three substitutes, with Edu replacing McCarthy at half time, Coira replacing the injured Djorovic and Mostovoi coming on for Doriva, and he had to make do with that.

Ten minutes from time his problems increased however, with Manolo being stretchered off in agony after hurting his knee badly. After the match it transpired that he had probably broken his cruciate knee ligament, and with Djorovic possibly out for a month and Sergio and Berges also out for most of the season, it is very likely they will enter into the transfer market for a defender very soon. Newcastle's Marcelino is a possible candidate. Meanwhile Cúper took off Mendieta near the end to allow the crowd to applaud him again, and Valencia go on to lead the table with a two point advantage over second placed Deportivo. Whether they will last the season is the question of many debates and surveys around the country, but they have the squad and at the moment they are having the luck as well. Celta drop to sixth, but with all around them failing to win, they are still in contention for a top spot as well.