Valencia spoil Racing Santander party with late equaliser

Valencia grabbed a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at Racing Santander in La Liga on Monday, putting a damper on the festive atmosphere at the Sardinero following their takeover by an Indian businessman over the weekend. 

Ahsan Ali Syed has bought the majority shareholding in the north-coast club and could be seen celebrating in the stands when striker Ariel nodded them in front after a corner in the 32nd minute.                                           

Racing were seeking their first win in 2011 and had already hit the post earlier on, but Valencia have made a habit of scoring late goals recently and steadily improved in the second half.  

Tino Costa levelled 12 minutes from time with a fierce shot into the top corner and the visitors had Ricardo Costa sent off in the 89th minute.                    

Racing's Medhi Lacen was also sent off soon after in the frenetic closing stages, but the hosts held on to end a run of five consecutive wins for Valencia.   

The visitors strengthened their hold on fourth place and the last Champions League qualification slot with 41 points from 21 games. Racing are 17th with 21 points. 

Barcelona top the standings with 58 points, seven ahead of second-placed Real Madrid after notching their 15th consecutive victory with a 3-0 win at Hercules on Saturday. 

Real were surprise 1-0 losers at Osasuna on Sunday.