MADRID: A late goal by Joan Capdevila gave Villarreal a 3-2 win over Getafe in the Spanish league, while Valencia rose to third place beating Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on Sunday.

Capdevila swept in Diego Godin’s pass to score his second goal of the match in the 87th minute, as the home side came from behind for an unlikely win. Getafe went ahead in the fourth minute when Ricardo Leon pounced on a poor clearance to score. The hosts responded in the 17th minute when Capdevila fired a long-range shot into top-left corner. Villarreal were reduced to 10 men at the restart when Ruben “Cani” Garcia was unlucky to be sent off. Roberto Soldado scored his eighth league goal of the season from the ensuing penalty.

At 2-1 up, Getafe appeared to have the game under control. But Santiago Cazorla replaced Roberto Pires in the 67th minute and almost immediately knocked the ball into the air with his left foot on the edge of the area before smashing home with his right to equalise.

Capdevila later added the winner before Villarreal went down to nine men, Angel Lopez receiving his second yellow card in injury time. The result lifts Villarreal into 11th place on 15 points. Getafe are ninth on 18 points.

In the other match, striker Iker Muniain put Bilbao ahead in the 58th but Valencia’s David Villa equalised three minutes later from Pablo Hernandez’s cross. Bilbao were reduced to 10 men when Koikili Lertxundi was sent off for a second yellow card with 20 minutes to go.

Valencia made the advantage count when Jeremy Mathieu followed up on a save by Bilbao keeper Gorka Iraizoz and drove home with his left foot. Bilbao was awarded a dubious penalty five minutes from the end when Javi Martinez fell on contact with David Navarro’s arm, although David Lopez hit the post. Valencia moved above Sevilla to 28 points. Bilbao remain in eighth place on 20. Barcelona lead the standings with 36 points, five more than second-place Real Madrid but having played a game more.

Also, Aritz Aduriz scored twice to help Mallorca beat Zaragoza 4-1, while Racing Santander defeated Espanyol 4-0 with two goals from Sergio Canales. Mallorca stayed in sixth place and Zaragoza are 15th while the win lifts Santander one place to 18th on 10 points and Espanyol are 12th. In other games, Tenerife beat Sporting Gijon 2-1, and Malaga drew 1-1 with Osasuna.

Premiership

LIVERPOOL: Tim Cahill’s late equaliser helped Everton rescue a dramatic 2-2 draw against Tottenham in the English Premier League.

Cahill headed in the crucial 86th minute goal that capped Everton’s fightback from two down. After three successive league defeats, David Moyes’ side desperately needed to stop the rot, but they looked dead and buried when second half goals from Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson put Tottenham on control.

Louis Saha sparked injury-hit Everton’s revival when he scored with 12 minutes remaining, then captain Cahill turned in Leighton Baines’ cross for his third goal of

the season. In the other match, Bobby Zamora scored to hand Fulham a 1-0 win

over Sunderland.