Getafe took a 2-0 lead and withstood Valencia's late surge to win 2-1 and come away with all three points in their Spanish top division football match here.
With Valencia's grip on fourth place in the La Liga seemingly secure, coach Marcelino Garcia Toral on Wednesday made seven changes to the line-up that faced leaders Barcelona last weekend at the Camp Nou, reports EFE news agency.
Whatever the coach's intentions, the results were terrible for the home side, dominated by a well-organized Getafe, who jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the 16th minute with a goal by Loic Remy.
The France international made it 2-0 for the visitors just four minutes into the second half.
Facing the need to respond, Valencia continued to stumble, prompting Garcia Toral to throw caution to the wind by using all of his changes in one go with a triple-substitution at the hour mark.
One of the subs, Rodrigo, got the hosts back in the match with a goal in the 69th minute and Valencia flew forward in desperate pursuit of an equalizer, even after going down to 10 men after Dani Parejo was sent off with a straight red card in the 85th minute for a foul against Jorge Molina.
Getafe held on to win, boosting their point total to 45, just six points out of the final Europa League berth.
--IANS
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