Valladolid 0 - Deportivo La Coruña 1

Valladolid: Bizzarri; Torres Gómez, Mustafá, Peña, Marcos; Colsa, Jesús; Fernando Sales, Oscar González (Ciric 84'), Chema (Olivera 66'); Aganzo (Pachón 78'). 4-2-3-1.
Deportivo: Juanmi; Héctor, Andrade, Naybet, Romero; Duscher (Toro Acuña 88'), Mauro Silva (Donato 60'); Scaloni, Sergio, Luque; Makaay (Amavisca 84'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Valladolid: Mustafá, Peña, Aganzo for Gaspar, Mario, Olivera / Deportivo: Andrade, Scaloni, Luque for César, Amavisca, Diego Tristán.

Goals:
0-1. 58. Makaay. Spectacular flying shot with outside of foot from Romero cross.

Deportivo La Coruña consolidated their fourth position with a 0-1 win at an icy Valladolid, and they stay three points behind Valencia. Irureta rested a couple of his key men before his side's Champions League visit to Basel, including César who had played for Spain midweek and Diego Tristán, who was suspended. Andrade came in for his first start in the league since his injury at the start of the season, and Valerón returned to the substitutes' bench, although in the end the manager decided not to risk him as the result was going in his favour.

The cold conditions (two below zero) froze the ideas in the first half, and neither side created too many problems for the opposing keepers, with only a shot from Colsa against the post, an Aganzo header over the bar and a long shot from Duscher warming up the crowd. Things continued for a while in the same vein after the break, but then a moment of brilliance from Roy Makaay changed the game, the Dutch striker rising in the area to side foot a spectacular shot past Bizzarri from Romero's cross for his sixteenth league goal of the season and his twenty-fifth in all competitions.

Irureta lost Mauro Silva to an injury soon after the goal, which could be another blow to the manager's European plans. Moré's substitutions were more of a tactical nature, with attackers Olivera, Pachón and Ciric coming in to play, but apart from a goalmouth scramble in which Olivera and Fernando Sales had shots cleared, Juanmi had a quiet time. Depor could have gone further in front when Luque rattled the crossbar after a short Sergio free kick and the young striker brought the best save of the night from Bizzarri soon afterwards. But they had done enough, and took away maximum points from Zorilla for only the second time in their 21 visits.