Valencia 2 - Real Sociedad 0

Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Ayala, Djukic, Carboni; Mendieta, Albelda, Baraja (Angulo 64'), Vicente; Ilie (Juan Sánchez 74'), Carew. 4-4-2.
Real Sociedad: Alberto; Fuentes, Corino, Pikabea, López Rekarte; Tayfun, Aranburu; Jauregui (De Pedro 46'), Gabilondo (Khokhlov 46'), Rubén Vega (Idiakez 62'); Jankauskas. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Valencia: Djukic, Mendieta, Vicente, Ilie for Pellegrino, Angulo, Kily González, Juan Sánchez / Real: Jauregui, Rubén Vega, Gabilondo for Aranzábal, De Pedro, De Paula.

Goals:
1-0. 66. Carew. Held off challenge of Pikabea in area, turned and shot past keeper.
2-0. 87. Juan Sánchez. Turned in Carew's cross from right on near post.

Valencia moved back to the top of the first division with two second half goals against a poor Real Sociedad side in a match brought forward to Saturday night. The star of the night was once again John Carew, the big Norwegian striker breaking the deadlock with an individualist goal and then laying on the pass for substitute Juan Sánchez to score the second near the end. Carew was being partnered for the first time this season by Adrian Ilie, now over his injury and back in the side after disappointing recent performances by Sánchez and the other Valencia forwards. Mendieta was back, and manager Héctor Cúper controversially left out Kily González, ostensibly suffering from a groin strain although the player claimed he was fit. Periko Alonso left some of his star players on the bench, including De Pedro, De Pablo, Khokhlov and Aranzábal, as the Real manager went for youth to try and change their fortunes.

The first half belonged entirely to Valencia, and the only shots Real Sociedad managed were at their own net, with Jauregui almost turning Mendieta's cross past Alberto and a López Rekarte miskick causing the keeper some problems. Ilie shot over when he should have hit the target, and referee Bueno Grimal turned down Valencia's appeals for a penalty when Pikabea handled in the area just before half time. Alonso decided his experiment was not working and changed two of his youngsters at the break, and the introduction of Khokhlov and De Pedro sparked off a revival, with the latter forcing a good save out of Cañizares within minutes. But they quickly ran out of steam and allowed the home side to get back in control, and after Angulo came on for Baraja, Carew got his goal.

Up to that point the crowd were starting to get impatient, and even when Sánchez replaced Ilie ten minutes later, whistles were heard against the manager for taking off one of their heroes. Some of the boos were also directed against Sánchez who had not scored in the league in eight matches, and when he did score a few minutes later he was so upset that he refused to celebrate. It is well known that Spanish crowds can be the most demanding, and in a recent poll in a popular sports paper six out of seven Valencia supporters said they were not happy with the way they are playing. Héctor Cúper is probably the best manager in the league, but he wins games through a strong defence 'a la Italiana' and it is no surprise that Cañizares is currently heading the goalkeepers' Zamora chart. The fans shouldn't be so critical though, with their team sub-champions of Europe, leading the first division and going strong in the Champions League. Some people are never happy! Meanwhile Real Sociedad drop further down, and are next to bottom in the league. Their fans have a reason not to be over the moon right now.