Heads you win

Both Valencia and Sevilla, once two components of Spain's nominal big four that have recently fallen on leaner times, saw in the new year with three valuable points as La Liga clubs roll up their sleeves for the second half of the season. At Mestalla, Aritz Aduriz was dismissed for doing little more than trying to release Javier Chica's grip on his arm - the Spaniard reacting by going to ground, clutching his midriff in ill-feigned agony - but the Valencia striker had risen highest at a corner to head the home side into the lead. Another headed goal from a sweetly met cross leveled the match on the stroke of half time, Valencia defender Ricardo Costa the unfortunate scorer.

Reduced to 10 men with half an hour to play, Valencia sealed victory in the 92nd minute. Juan Mata started and finished the move, taking a short corner and heading home when the ball was returned him, a yard or two offside, in the penalty area.

Sevilla is 10 points shy of Villarreal, with just 10 more than 18th-placed Almería

The win lifted Valencia above Espanyol into fourth behind Villarreal, its opponent in the King's Cup last 16 on Thursday.

Sevilla also achieved a home victory for the first time since it beat Valencia on November 8, but it was hardly the convincing return to form the Sánchez Pizjuán faithful have been waiting for. Jesús Navas returned to the team after more than three months on the sidelines and gave an inspirational performance to lift a side deflated after five straight league defeats. Navas provided the assist for the only goal of the game, a Frédéric Kanouté header.

Sevilla now has 23 points, 10 shy of Villarreal but just 10 more than 18th-placed Almería. Under-fire coach Gregorio Manzano has plenty of work to do in 2011.

As do those Liga coaches looking to bolster their squads in the January transfer market. José Mourinho is one who will be scouring the globe for a new striker after Gonzalo Higuaín was ruled out for the rest of the season. Surly Manchester City outcast Emmanuel Adebayor has been mentioned as a loan solution. Málaga, bankrolled by Qatari royalty, has already set the transfer ball rolling, adding Sergio Asenjo, Ignacio Camacho, Martín Demichelis, Julio Baptista and Enzo Maresca to its ranks.

On loan and alone

Royston Drenthe is nothing if not a brave man. The last three seasons saw the Dutch midfielder turning out on an occasional basis for the club that still owns him, Real Madrid, where the Bernabéu boo boys, notoriously fickle and not blind to the fact that a player is black, turned on him with vicious gusto. Even when things seemed to have reached the point of no return and then-coach Manuel Pellegrini seemed loath to expose him to more ridicule, Drenthe did not hide and redoubled his efforts to bulldoze his way down the left side of Madrid's offense, albeit to little effect.

After being loaned to the newly promoted Hércules this season, Drenthe seemed to have felt a weight lifted from his back on the pitch, showing more of the skill that first interested Real and scoring a couple of goals, as well as helping the Alicante's illustrious surprise signing David Trezeguet to a few more of his own. Before the end of 2010 the Rotterdam native even made his first appearance as a full Holland international.

But off the field, at the club whose major shareholder, Enrique Ortiz, is at the center of corruption and match-fixing accusations, something has gone awry and Drenthe says he has not been paid since his summer move to the Mediterranean coast, hence his decision to stay in Rotterdam an extra vacation week, only sneaking back to Alicante on Monday, the day that saw a spineless Hércules succumb to a 3-0 beating at Mallorca. His stance was clear: no pay, no play. But his colleagues, who say they have not been paid for the past two months, have not sided publicly with the Dutchman, with veteran captain Rufete calling on Drenthe to explain his attitude as his teammates trudged through yuletide training sessions. Nor is coach Esteban Vigo enamored of his star winger's attitude, saying after Tuesday's face-to-face meeting that the player "must accept that he works in a group."

Drenthe's stance against one of several clubs in La Liga that have made it official policy to play fast and loose with the rules that govern any economic activity would seem to be a justifiable one; his mistake was to go it alone and not bother to convince his teammates to support him.

Meanwhile, the Mallorca defeat saw Hércules drop another rung down the ladder toward the relegation zone, as Deportivo's fortuitous 1-2 win at Athletic Bilbao took the Galician team up to 12th. In Monday night's games Real Madrid won 2-3 at Getafe as Villarreal stayed strong in third place with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Almería. Zaragoza moved off bottom spot with a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid allowed Racing Santander to take a point away from the capital after a flat scoreless tie.