BARCELONA, Spain -- Levante struck early and relied on its staunch defence when reduced to 10 men to beat Osasuna 2-0 at home in the Spanish league on Saturday. Levantes win extended its unbeaten streak to eight consecutive rounds and provisionally lifted it ahead of Sevilla and Valencia into seventh place. First-year coach Joaquin Caparros had set the goal of avoiding relegation for Levante this season, but after 26 rounds the Mediterranean minnow is closer to earning a Europa League berth than worrying about the drop. "My team is a pain to play against," said Caparros. "With 10 players we tripled our effort and (goalkeeper Keylor) Navas, with the way he is playing, kept us calm at the back. "We can play better or worse, but this team always gives it its all. Its all soul." Midfielder Papakouly Diop gave Levante the lead at Ciutat de Valencia Stadium just four minutes in when his long-range strike bounced past goalkeeper Andres Fernandez and inside the far post. Forward Ruben Garcia doubled the hosts advantage by fending off Damia Abella to control a long free kick before turning and firing the ball home. Levante played the last half hour with 10 men after Victor Casadesus saw a direct red card for a hard tackle from behind on Alvaro Cejudo, but even though Osasuna finally mustered its first shot on goal it never threatened to come back. "Its disheartening to play against Levante when they are ahead in the score," Osasuna coach Javi Gracia said. Levante visits league leader Real Madrid in the next round. Elsewhere, Elche beat Celta Vigo 1-0 thanks to a late goal by Carles Gil, Malaga drew 1-1 at home with Valladolid, and Getafe was held to 0-0 by visiting Espanyol. Elches Manuel del Moral and Eduardo Albacar both sent the ball off the goalframe in the first half before Rafina tilted the match in Celtas favour through his skilful dribbling and passing. But Gil combined with Ferran "Coro" Corominas to break free in the box and net the winner six minutes from time to give Elche its first victory in four rounds and move the promoted side six points from the drop. Valladolids draw at Malaga left it in the relegation zone, three points behind Malaga and Almeria. Malagas Roque Santa Cruz was left unmarked to head in the 13th-minute opener, but Valladolid dominated the rest of the match after Javi Guerra went close in the 20th. Midfielder Daniel Larsson equalized 10 minutes later after Manucho knocked down a long cross by Antonio Rukavina for the Swede to score. "Our fans are nervous and I understand them," said Malaga coach Bernd Schuster, whose team has one victory in its last nine games. "We got the first goal, which is very important, but then we had the wrong attitude and take a breather (instead) of looking for a second." Getafes drab draw with Espanyol meant its winless streak grew to 11 straight games dating to November. It also lost goalkeeper Miguel Moya to a leg injury in the second half. Espanyol stayed in 10th place. Madrid leads Atletico Madrid and Barcelona by three points. Madrid visits Atletico on Sunday, when Barcelona hosts Almeria. Also, Real Sociedad plays at Sevilla, Villarreal hosts Real Betis, and Valencia visits Rayo Vallecano. Athletic Bilbao routed Granada 4-0 on Friday to hold onto fourth place and the final Champions League spot. Bra... Cooks Saints Jersey . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Au... Rickey Jackson Jersey .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. htt... . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. [url=http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Elite-Bobby-Hebert-Saints-Jersey/]Bobb... Hebert Saints Jersey . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Ri... Jackson Jersey . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead.The World Champions of pessimism. Thats what the outstanding journalist Simon Kuper calls the French. Hed know, he has lived amongst them for over 10 years. Kuper, writer of all things good, said last year in a piece for the Financial Times that schooling in the country was one of the key reasons for the countrys negativity. Early childhood here is mostly happy, but then French schools seem to make people miserable for life. I first glimpsed this when my wife and I went to a parent-teacher meeting. It was the only one we were granted all year, so we were itching to hear about our daughters triumphs. This teacher saw her job solely as pointing out shortcomings. Thats pretty much the essence of French schooling, notes Peter Gumbel in his shocking book On achève bien les écoliers (They Shoot School Kids, Dont They?). French pupils, Gumbel explains, are almost never praised and frequently told they are worthless. Gumbel has not written a book on the state of the current French football team but if he chose to he could use the same description of their players. Since losing 2-0 in Ukraine last Friday, Frances national footballers had been taken out to the schoolyard and given a good hiding by the media and the public. LEquipe started Friday with the front page headline Everyone is behind Les Blues, but after a loss in Kiev, the country were not behind them at all. A poll taken by Le Parisien revealed 83.6 per cent felt France would not qualify for Brazil 2014. The 2-0 deficit played a part, but overall it reflected the general feeling the people of France had towards their national team. The French public had had enough. It is not hard to sympathize with them. Since getting to the World Cup final in 2006, France were pathetic at Euro 2008 and disgraced at the World Cup in 2010, failing to win a match at both tournaments. The players revolted against then coach Raymond Domenech and when Laurent Blanc took over, the 23 players in South Africa were disregarded for the first game, with some, such as Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery, suspended by their own football federation for their behaviour. Blanc steadied the ship for a while, but when they lost a crucial match at Euro 2012 against Sweden, he admitted the camp had issues inside the dressing room: "It kicked off because all the players felt that everyone hadnt given everything." Frances loss meant they faced Spain, who would easily beat them in the quarter finals, and negative tactics coupled with poor behaviour towards the countrys media saw them exit in disgrace again. This time Blanc had had enough. France were again a national time divided. In 2013, it is harder than ever to get true unity with a national team. More than ever, players ply their trades for clubs away from their home country. They are individuals linked by nothing more than a passport and that is certainly the way France have played in qualifying for the World Cup. They started the campaign as the team no seed wanted to face, the 10th-best side in Europe according to the world rankings, and the moment they got Spain, they looked like a team stuck in third gear waiting for the playoffs. A smaller European group denied them a chance to climb the rankings, appearing once again in a draw unseeded. They were the team no seeded team wanted to face, once again. Ukraine were the unlucky ones, we were told. Yet, in the first leg France were predictably poor.dddddddddddd A team lacking leadership who lost the plot when down a goal. Ukraine no longer believed they were worth fearing and France looked like a team who knew what the rest of Europe didnt - they were not as good as people thought. "Someone who is a starter at Real Madrid, cant be as bad as that?" harshly asked French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet earlier in qualifying but, in truth, he was right. Many of the French players looked nothing like those who played for their clubs. "Bravery! More Bravery! screamed LEquipes headline last weekend. And so with the nation angry with their national team once again, Didier Deschamps team had one last chance to get them back. A packed house at the Stade de France certainly didnt reflect the mood of the nation, getting behind their team from the moment the national anthem sung. Five changes were made to the French team that lost in Ukraine and everyone of them made a difference. In Mathieu Valbuena, France had vision and desire to attack in the final third, to push Ukraine deep and force their defenders to give away unnecessary fouls. In the 22nd minute, the Marseille man sent in a brilliant free kick that Ribery got on the end of and his powerful shot rebounded out to Mamadou Sakho to score his first international goal. Sakho, like Benzema, was one of the five changes made by Deschamps, and the Real Madrid man made it 2-0 soon after when he took the ball, which bounced off Valbuena, and into his path, to slot home. Stade de France erupted and the linesman, crucially, kept his flag down despite the striker being way offside. It was difficult to feel sorry for Ukraine, however, as five minutes earlier Benzema had a legitimate goal ruled out for offside. In 34 minutes, France had gotten back on level terms. Except, it wasnt. The archaic away goals rule that UEFA continues to adopt in these qualifiers meant France were on edge throughout. Brave was indeed the word of the day as Yohan Cabaye, another one of the famous five, led a brilliant resolute French side at 2-0, popping up in key areas to make crucial interceptions and tackles. Ukraine, down to 10 men after the dismissal of Yevhen Khacheridi, knew one goal would be enough. At 2-0, France still had it all to do, yet it was at these nervous times when they looked their most mature. They looked like a side that felt they would score, but knew the importance of not conceding. The goal would come, they felt, and come it did. From a second phase of a corner, Mathieu Debuchys cross wasnt dealt with by Ukraines defence and when Riberys strike came across goal it was knocked into his own net by Oleg Gusev. Deschamps, the former skipper who lifted the World Cup in that very stadium fifteen years ago, once stood for everything that was great in French football. Now, he stood powerless. He would kick and head every ball from the sideline for the next 20 minutes until the final whistle put him and his country out of their misery. Deschamps was lifted into the air by his players and coaching staff and hundreds of Tricolour flags flew inside the stadium. France had found themselves and a performance many didnt know they had left in them. The French may be pessimistic, but they are just as passionate. Tonight, the world champions of pessimism can love their national team once again. 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