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Levante, Valencia play out goalless draw
Valencia's UEFA Cup hopes suffered a blow when they were held to a goalless draw by Levante in a Spanish Primera Liga match on Sunday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:52 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Madrid:
Valencia's UEFA Cup hopes suffered a blow when they were held to a goalless draw by Levante in a Spanish Primera Liga match on Sunday. Last season's league champions were even fortunate to escape with a point, as Levante had the better of the goalscoring opportunities on offer. The result was a bad one for both sides, with Levante dropping into the relegation zone for the first time this season, due to Mallorca's victory away to Deportivo la Coruna. Qualifying hopes Valencia travelled the short distance to Levante in a bid to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for next season's UEFA Cup, a competition they won in 2004. Last season's league champions started the day in seventh position, looking to make up ground on sixth-placed Espanyol. Valencia got off to a good start and went close to taking an early lead, when Pablo Aimar hit the post after some magical skill on the left flank. The talented Argentinian produced a stunning cross with his "wrong" foot and the ball cleared Levante goalkeeper Jose Luis Mora, before hitting the post. The home side hit back to dominate the remainder of the match. Palop strikes Edwin Congo forced Andre Palop to make a good save, low to his left, with a powerful shot from the right flank. Palop was called into action again, when a well-worked free-kick resulted in Alexis going close with a header from close range. In the second period, Levante picked up where they left off in the first half. Substitute Sergio Garcia took a pass from Mateu Jofre, before thumping a long range shot just wide of the Valencia goal. Palop continued his heroics as the match wound down to conclusion. First he denied Juanma at close range, who arrived late in the Valencia penalty area and produced a shot on target. Then, a minute from time, the Valencia goalkeeper confirmed himself as Man-of-the-Match when he dived full-length to tip a shot from Jofre round the post. Goalless it finished and Valencia are all but out of the running for a UEFA Cup place. Levante, in turn, slipped into the relegation zone for the first time this season, due to Mallorca's victory away to Deportivo la Coruna. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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