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Week  31	Valencia	5	v	3	Cadiz
Date 2nd April 2006
	Villa 2 mins, 65 mins				Enrique 12 mins
	Angulo 34 mins,57 mins				Sesma 64 mins,79 mins
	David Navarro 36 mins
	Moretti				Raul Lopez
					Bezares
					Fleurquin

Cadiz went down in an eight goal thriller to Valencia in the Mestalla. With Medina out injured, Lucas Lobos played up front and was supported by Enrique and Sesma on the flanks. Limia retained his place in goal while the back four remained unchanged.

The 200 or so travelling Cadistas must have feared the worst when Valencia went ahead inside two minutes. David Villa took advantage of poor defending and a rout looked on the cards. And it is credit to Cadiz that they fought back strongly against a team who are battling with Real Madrid for the runners up spot. Lucas Lobos sent in a dangerous freekick, and with Sesma causing a nuisance in the box Canizares could only parry the ball allowing Enrique to dive in and score the equaliser. Angulo then almost regained the lead for Valencia, but his shot went narrowly wide. With the Valencia fans starting to get agitated, Cadiz worked their way back into the game, and although the home team enjoyed the lions share of possession Cadiz looked like they were coping in defence. Cadiz even looked capable of snatching the lead, as they harried in midfield and looked to their speed on the counter attack. The best two chances were for Lucas Lobos, who shot off target with a rushed shot, and Sesma, who was millimetres away from a cross after super work from Enrique on the right wing.

Unfortunately it was Valencia who scored next, and as so often seems the case this year it was a moment of individual brilliance which changed the game. Pablo Aimar’s exquisite first time pass through to Angulo opened up the defence, and he finished calmly passed Limia. 2-1 soon became 3-1, as Angulo’s freekick found Navarro unmarked at the far post to head home. On the stroke of half time Cadiz were unlucky not to be thrown a lifeline, when Sesma seemed to be fouled by Moretti in the box, only for the referee to wave away the players protests.

Cadiz appeared lively after the restart, but once again Aimar started a move which ended with Angulo scoring his second of the night. At 4-1 the match looked over and it was only a question of how many Valencia would score. Once again though Cadiz showed a superb battling spirit, and in the 65^th minute Enrique’s freekick was expertly headed home by Sesma. As Cadiz looked for a way back into the match, Aimar took advantage of some poor defending and set up David Villa for his second of the game, 5-2. Sesma then scored to make it 5-3, with just over ten minutes left. Soon after sub Oli combined well with Sesma, and his pull back was millimetres from Enriques outstretched boot. Cadiz continued to fight to the death but there was to be no miracle.

With few other teams at the bottom of the table winning, this was not a bad weekend for Cadiz as they have now played the top six both home and away, with the exception of the visit to Barcelona at the end of April. Coupled with last weeks draw with Athletico Madrid, the team seems to be showing a recent improvement, and hopefully the three goals scored will give confidence after this seasons scoring woes. The return to form of Enrique and Sesma, who were both instrumental in last years promotion, could be a timely boost with Real Betis, Malaga and Real Sociedad still to visit the Carranza, and three home wins could see Cadiz pull off an unlikely escape.