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MADRID, Spain -- Hernan Perezs goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time gave Villarreal a 2-1 win over 10-man Malaga Thursday to improve its chances of avoiding relegation while Racing Santander look doomed after a heavy defeat. Villarreals victory moved it seven points above the drop, but last-place Santander conceded a goal after just 21 seconds in a 3-0 loss to Mallorca that left it 10 points from safety with six games to play. Alvaro Negredo scored two goals as Sevilla continued its steady climb up the standings with a 3-0 win over Zaragoza, which stayed seven points behind Villarreal. Malaga dropped back into fourth, one point behind Valencia, after having gone third for the first time this season on Monday. The Andalucian club looked poised to return to third when Santi Cazorla gave the team a 65th-minute lead when the former Villarreal player struck a low shot past Diego Lopez for the opener. Villarreal equalized in the 83rd when Marcos Senna stepped up to fire a penalty past substitute goalkeeper Ruben Martinez, who had come on for Carlos Kameni after he was red carded for tackling Perez as the pair chased a high ball. Martinez was out of position after punching an inswinging corner kick onto the path of Perez to volley home the winning goal at the Madrigal Stadium. \"We had opportunities and we should have closed it out when we were leading 1-0 but we didnt manage to,\" Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini said. \"We were in control and they barely even created any danger. The penalty changed things and gave them belief.\" Santander couldnt have imagined a worse start as it gave the ball away inside its half and Victor Casadesus looped a pass onto the run of Emilio Nsue, who beat goalkeeper Dani Sotres to the ball and scored into the empty net. Santander hung in until the 47th when another defensive error left Chori Castro free to slot home, and Alejandro Alfaro scored the third in the 53rd when Nsues header came off the bar directly to the Mallorca striker to slot home. Mallorca moved into midtable and away from relegation danger, with Sporting Gijon and Zaragoza three points above Santander. Zaragoza was never in the contest at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium as Federico Fazio rose above the visitors defence to head home the 11th-minute opener. Negredo struck twice before the break to complete the rout, as Sevilla won for the fourth time in five games to sit one point behind sixth-place Osasuna and the last Europa League qualifying place. Cristiano Ronaldo matched his own league record of 40 goals with a hat trick Wednesday as Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 to maintain its four-point lead over three-time defending champion Barcelona, which welcomes the Spanish leader to the Camp Nou in nine days. Wholesale Jerseys China . Louis Cardinals have reportedly signed second baseman Matt Carpenter to a six-year contract extension. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Ray Petkau issued the following statement pertaining to a Tuesday night tweet, clarifying that it was not a direct response to Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle. http://www.wholesalejerseysace.us/.com) - The Edmonton Oilers avoided tying the franchises longest home losing streak the last time out. SOCHI, Russia -- Canada was a second-half team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The medal intake in Sochi is forecasted to happen at a more measured pace. Starting with Saturdays mens snowboard slopestyle and womens moguls, Canada has at least one legitimate medal shot, if not more, virtually every day until the closing ceremonies Feb. 23. Chef de mission Steve Podborski and his assistants Jean-Luc Brassard and France St. Louis intend to be present at events where a Canadian is a front-runner for a medal. \"I would say were booked every day,\" Podborski said at a Canadian Olympic Committee news conference Thursday. The host country won 18 of its 26 medals in Vancouver during the back half of the Games. Ten of the 14 gold medals came in the second half, including four on the final weekend. Sports making their Olympic debut helped balance the schedule of Canadas medal prospects in Sochi. Mens and womens snowboard slopestyle, the figure skating team event and the luge relay are among the new events over the first eight days of competition in which Canada has solid medal prospects. Thats in addition to Canadas strength in the entrenched sports of alpine skiing, moguls, short-track speedskating and cross-country skiing. \"Sure there are new sports and we happen to be very, very good in the new ones because we are a great sporting nation,\" Podborski said. \"With the support were getting now from corporate Canada, Own The Podium and the Government of Canada, we have an opportunity to be good in the traditional sports as well and thats where well make our great gains in the areas where are athletes are getting better . . . cross-country, alpine skiing.\" Canadas athletes have been waging fierce foosball tournaments in their village lounge while they await Fridays opening ceremonies, according to Podborski. But Olympic competition started early for some Canadians with Thursdays preliminary rounds. Canada sat in second place, two points behind host Russia, after the first day of the new team figure skating event. Torontos Patrick Chan was third in the mens short program, then Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., were second in the pairs short to give Canada 17 of a possible 20 points after the first two events. Sebastien Toutant of LAssomption, Que., and Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., advanced to the mens snowboard slopestyle final Saturday, while Charles Reid of Mont-Tremblant, Que., and Reginas Mark McMorris will attempt to join them via the semifinal earlier in the day. The Dufour-Lapointe sisters from Montreal -- Justine, Chloe and Maxime -- all qualified for Saturdays womens moguls finals as did Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City. Reigning world champion Spencer OBrien of Courtney, B.C., qualified for the womens slopestyle final Sunday. Hockey Canada also made the decision to replace injured forward Steven Stamkos with Tampa Bay teammate Martin St. Louis. No competition is scheduled Friday because of the opening ceremonies. In addition to slopestyle and womens moguls on opening weekend, skiers Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Calgarys Jan Hudec and Manny Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., are medal prospects in Sundays downhill. Canadas figure skaters are favoured to win a medal in the team event, which ends Sunday. Canadas objective in 2010 was to top the overall medal count and the target remains the same in Sochi. The host team was third in total medals, but won the gold-medal race four years ago. Because of the new sports, there are 36 more medals to be won in 2014 than in 2010. That will help fill Canadas coffers, but also those of top rivals Germany, Norway, the United States and host Russia. \"Canada is here to compete and win,\" COC president Marcel Aubut said. \"Our aim is to contend for the number one spot in medals won.dddddddddddd.\" \"This is an ambitious goal, but we Canadians like it this way. Our athletes expect nothing less of themselves but the highest achievements.\" Added Podborski: \"You dont try to come \"somewhere up there.\" We expect great things in Canada now. Its an ideal approach. \"We may not win the medal count this time. We may not win it the next time but one day we will because we are striving to be number one in the world in the medal count.\" While Canadas preparation for 2010 seems a successful model to copy for Sochi, the Canadian Olympic Committee took a different approach. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing posed similar challenges to Sochi in terms of distance to travel, time-zone difference and unfamiliar language, food and culture. Virtually all of Canadas Olympians competed, trained or at least visited Beijing in the year prior to those Games to get comfortable with the place. The same practice was done for Sochi. There was less emphasis on pre-Games visits for the 2012 Summer Games in London. \"If we look at the Beijing experience and we look at the Sochi experience, its actually very similar,\" COC chief sport officer Caroline Assalian says. \"New and unfamiliar environment for most countries. \"We ensured that the athletes and support teams as much as possible are familiar with this environment.\" The COC has conducted exit interviews with athletes, their coaches and support teams following Olympic Games since 2006 to better plan for the next. The athletes were asked \"what made the difference in your performance?\" \"Their number one factor? Feeling part of a larger unified team, more than anything,\" Assalian said. \"Thats what made the difference for them. Coaches and support team? Familiarity with the Olympic environment.\" And where Beijing was also a benchmark for Sochi was in Canadas conversion rate, which the number of athletes ranked in the top five at their most recent world championships make it onto the podium at the subsequent Olympic Games. The COC employs conversion rates to compare how Canadas athletes are performing compared to other countries. Even though Canada won just 18 medals in Beijing, the conversion rate there was 67 per cent compared to 59 per cent at the Winter Games of both 2010 and 2006, according to Assalian. The Canadian team needs at least match Beijings conversion rate to be in the hunt for the overall title in Sochi. \"Our bar now is Beijing,\" Assalian says. \"We know we need to convert better than we ever have at any Winter Olympic Games.\" The Canadian team will attempt this without the advantage it had in Vancouver and Whistler of home ice and home snow. Own The Podium chief executive officer Anne Merklinger says many winter sport teams have stronger leadership and better coaches since 2010. Both areas were priorities coming out of Vancouver and Whistler and she hopes improvements there compensate for the additional challenges of Sochi. \"Weve come a long way in that regard,\" she says. \"Without coaches, were behind the 8-ball. Its the most important success factor. \"I think there are a number of examples where weve brought in great coaches, but weve lost some too. We need to find a way to continue to retain the good ones we have and attract new ones.\" \"Were investing in that. Thats what it takes. Its a competitive industry.\" OTP oversees athletes competitive lives between Olympic Games and allocates about $62 million a year in federal government funding between summer and winter sports. The COC prepares athletes for the Games environment and looks after their needs and wants on the ground in Sochi. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '