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October 20, 2010

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Villarreal draws 2-2 at Hercules

VILLARREAL rallied for a 2-2 draw at Hercules on Monday but missed a chance to go top of the Spanish league for the first time in club history.

Nelson Valdez and Joan Capdevila exchanged goals before David Trezeguet put Hercules ahead 2-1 in the 41st minute. The French striker was sent off just three minutes later for protesting.

Villarreal took advantage in the 63rd minute to equalize through Borja Valero, who was then sent off with nine minutes to play following a reckless challenge on Royston Drenthe. Mateo Musacchio lashed out to catch Drenthe in the face with his arm to see the visitors reduced to nine men one minute later.

Real Madrid leads with 17 points after seven rounds, while Villarreal, Barcelona and Valencia all have 16 points and Atletico Madrid is next with 13. Hercules has eight points for 10th.

Hercules again showed it is not to be taken lightly, having already beaten Barcelona and Sevilla this season, and on-loan Real Madrid forward Drenthe created the bulk of the host's chances with a standout performance.

But it was Villarreal striker Nilmar who nearly opened the scoring at the Jose Rico Perez stadium in the 19th, only to be denied by the woodwork.

Valdez notched his third goal of the season in the 26th as Drenthe used some trickery on a free-kick before finding the Paraguay striker alone inside the area to shoot past Diego Lopez.

In England, Sunderland drew for the sixth time in eight Premier League matches on Monday when it could find no way past 10-man Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Christopher Samba was shown a red card just before halftime for Rovers after tangling with Danny Welbeck but the hosts hung on for a 0-0 draw in a desperately disappointing game.

Darren Bent had Sunderland's best chances, wasting a one-on-one opportunity in the first half and then making a hash of a headed opportunity in the second.



 

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