Madrid, Dec 7 (DPA) Valencia moved up to third in the Spanish Liga late Sunday with a dramatic 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao.
A colourless first half in old San Mames was followed by an incident-packed second half.

Teenage idol Iker Munian gave Bilbao the lead in the 58th minute by netting the rebound after a shot from Javi Martinez was blocked. Just three minutes later, league top scorer David Villa levelled for Valencia by turning in a centre from Pablo.

The hosts then had left-back Kiokili sent off, and Valencia moved up for the kill.

The towering Nikola Zigic came off the bench and caused problems for the Bilbao defence. Eight minutes from time, Jeremy Mathieu made it 2-1 with a left-foot drive, his first goal for Valencia.

Four minutes later, the hosts were given a dubious penalty, which David Lopez hit against the post.

“Everything was very frantic at the end,” Valencia captain Carlos Marchena said, “but I really think that we deserve this win.”

Marchena and company now have 28 points from 13 games, one more than fourth-placed Sevilla, who were held 1-1 Saturday at home by Valladolid.

Valencia are three points behind second-placed Real, to whom they play hosts Saturday in Mestalla.

Real, who beat Almeria 4-2 Saturday at home, are five points behind leaders Barcelona, who won 3-1 Saturday at fifth-placed Deportivo Coruna.

Mallorca retained sixth place on Sunday with a 4-1 thrashing of Zaragoza, with two goals from Aritz Aduriz.

Sporting Gijon stay seventh, four points behind Mallorca, after losing 2-1 in Tenerife.

Then come Bilbao and Getafe, who lost 3-2 at revitalised Villarreal, for whom Spain left-back Joan Capdevila was the two-goal hero.

Sunday’s other games saw Espanyol crash 4-0 at home to lively Racing Santander, while Malaga and Osasuna played out a 1-1 draw.

This draw leaves Malaga second from bottom, one point above hapless Xerez, who crashed 2-0 Saturday at home to Atletico Madrid. Xerez have just seven points, Malaga eight and Santander 10. Then come Zaragoza, Almeria and Valladolid on 12.