Racing Santander 2 - Villarreal 1

Racing: Toño; Cristian Alvarez, Garay, Rubén, Luis Fernández (Momo 30'); Scaloni, Vitolo, Colsa (Balboa 85'), Oscar Serrano; Zigic (Juanjo 91'), Munitis. 4-4-2.
Villarreal: Barbosa; Josemi, Quique Alvarez, Fuentes, Arruabarrena; Cani (Marcos 60'), Marcos Senna, Josico (Tacchinardi 46'), José Marí; Diego Forlán, Guille Franco (Jonathan Pereira 69'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Racing: Cristian Alvarez for Pinillos / Villarreal: Marcos Senna, José Marí for Somoza, Riquelme, Marcos García.

Goals:
1-0. 49. Rubén. Angled header past Barbosa from Cristian Alvarez free kick.
2-0. 63. Colsa. Overhead kick close to goal after Garay headed back free kick.
2-1. 86. Marcos. Got on end of Tacchinardi's pass to poke ball past Toño.

Racing Santander kept up their good recent form with a 2-1 win over Villarreal. The Cantabrians were lucky to be let off an early penalty appeal after Guille Franco was brought down in the area, but Zigic could have given them the lead when he headed wide shortly before half time. The bad news for coach Miguel Angel Portugal was a serious knee injury to Luis Fernández which could keep him out for some time.

All the goals came after the break though, Rubén heading home a Cristian Alvarez free kick to open the scoring just three minutes after the restart, his second goal in a row. Only Diego Forlán was causing any problems for the local defence, and Colsa made it two with an overhead kick after Garay headed across another Alvarez free kick. Villarreal did finally score, Marcos getting on the end of a long Tacchinardi pass to poke the ball past the advancing Toño, but by then it was all over.