A clinical Cesc Fabregas strike rescued a point for champions Barcelona in a 2-2 draw away to top of the table Valencia on Wednesday. After the first weekend of fixtures there had been complaints that La Liga was already a two-horse race as both Barca and Real Madrid won by large margins. But since then it has not gone their way and Valencia lead the standings with ten points. Indeed Real dropped further points on Wednesday as they followed up their shock defeat to Levante last weekend by being held 0-0 by modest Racing Santander. Valencia went ahead after just eleven minutes when Eric Abidal put a Jeremy Mathieu cross into his own net but, just two minutes later, Pedro Rodriguez equalised after a neat interchange between Cesc and Lionel Messi. Valencia enjoyed plenty of possession in the middle of the pitch and they went ahead again as Pablo Hernandez put away a Mathieu cross. Then before half time Roberto Soldado missed an open goal. It was not until the final stages of the match that Barca asserted themselves and it was once again the Messi and Fabregas combination which has worked so well this season that made the difference. The Argentinian found the former Arsenal man, who kept his head and placed the ball past the keeper. In injury time Valencia were reduced to 10 men as defender Jordi Alba was given a straight red card for a comment he made to the referee. Elsewhere on Wednesday Atletico Madrid recorded their second successive 4-0 win as they beat Sporting Gijon with Colombian striker Falcao scoring a double following on from his hat-trick at the weekend. A second half strike from Santi Cazorla gave Qatar-owned Malaga victory over Athletic Bilbao – their third successive win – and Levante’s good form continued with a 2-1 win away at Rayo Vallecano.
