Villarreal struggles to draw at Puertollano in cup

Oct 29, 2009 - 10:17 PM MADRID(AP) -- Villarreal was held to 1-1 by 10-man Puertollano in a Copa del Rey fourth-round matchup on Thursday.

A second-half goal from French midfielder Robert Pires saved Villarreal's blushes against the third-division team, although the result puts further pressure on coach Ernesto Valverde.

In Thursday's other domestic cup games, Valladolid beat Mallorca 2-1 and Salamanca beat Racing Santander 1-0.

Puertollano's Alvaro Valdes stunned Villarreal with a goal in the 14th minute.

Villarreal struggled to respond and mustered only a handful of clear chances throughout the first half. With only one league win, Villarreal is languishing in the relegation zone.

Puertollano's Jorge Juan Pelegrina was sent off to start the second half and Bruno Soriano nearly equalized moments later but his header was saved.

With the clock ticking down, Valverde deployed regulars Marcos Senna and Joan Capdevila and the club responded soon after when Pires equalized in the 65th.

At Valladolid, defender Cesar Arzo put the hosts ahead in the fifth before Josep Marti equalized with a penalty in the 28th. Valladolid took the lead again 10 minutes from the end through Diego Costa.

Second-division Salamanca went ahead against first-division Santander with a penalty two minutes from time from Salva Sevilla.

On Tuesday, Madrid was beaten 4-0 at third-division Alcorcon, Atletico Madrid beat Marbella 2-0, Sevilla trounced Atletico Ciudad 4-2 and Sporting Gijon rallied for a 1-1 draw against Recreativo Huelva.

On Wednesday, Rayo Vallecano beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0, Hercules was a 2-1 winner over Almeria and Celta Vigo held on for a 2-1 victory over Tenerife. Defending champion Barcelona beat Cultural Leonesa 2-0.

The return legs will be played in two weeks.