Madrid: Substitute Jonas scored his first goal for Valencia in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Jonas, who led the Brazilian league in scoring before moving to Valencia in January, slotted home in the 81st minute from inside the box after goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz had failed to hold on to Tino Costa's long-range shot.
The win allowed Valencia to open up a four-point advantage in third place over Villarreal, which earlier rallied for a 2-2 draw at Racing Santander.
Valencia goalkeeper Vicente Guaita was troubled by Fernando Llorente throughout the match, the Bilbao striker forcing an early save before scoring his 14th goal of the season. The Spain striker received the ball inside the box and held off defender David Navarro before turning to poke it home in the 14th minute.
Valencia had two penalty shouts waved away on a rainy night at the San Mames Stadium before Iraizoz denied Pablo Hernandez's long-range blast in the 45th minute in a match of relentless chances.
Llorente terrorized Valencia's defense — which was without Portugal fullback Miguel, who is serving out a club-imposed ban — and was denied from another shot in the 64th.
Valencia's pressure finally paid off in the 71st. Bruno Saltor sent Joaquin Sanchez speeding down the right, and the Valencia winger picked out Spain forward Juanma Mata at the far post with a perfect cross pass for the equalizing goal.
After Brazilian striker Jonas put the visitors ahead, Guaita denied Igor Gabilondo and Llorente before Gabilondo fired a rising shot just wide of post.
"This will be good for us," Mata told Canal Plus TV. "It was important because Athletic has hopes of reaching the Champions League — they're a direct rival, so these are important points."
While Valencia picked up its eighth win in 10 games, Bilbao endured a third straight loss but stayed sixth in the last European spot — two points behind Espanyol and three more than Sevilla.
Substitute Nilmar scored an injury-time equalizer as a lackluster Villarreal managed a 2-2 draw at Santander.
Brazil striker Nilmar jumped toward goal to help nudge a deflected corner over the goal line in the second minute of injury time after Giovani Dos Santos' 68th-minute goal had appeared to give Santander a third straight win since coach Marcelino Garcia Toral's arrival.
Pedro Munitis found Dos Santos in stride and the Mexico forward shot low past goalkeeper Diego Lopez, who made a number of important saves as Villarreal salvaged a point at El Sardinero Stadium.
Ariel Nahuelpan gave the hosts the lead after just three minutes when the Algerian striker raced into the area to head Pablo Pinillos' centering pass into goal.
Villarreal labored to a Europa League win over Napoli on Thursday and the team appeared drained from that physical match as it struggled to find its rhythm with Cani's shot on goal its only attempt of the first half.
Substitute Marco Ruben pulled Villarreal even after guiding Jose Manuel Catala's cross into goal with a 66th-minute header.
After Dos Santos replied with his first Santander goal, both Lopez and Villarreal goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez made saves down the stretch before a frantic finish paid off for the visitors, who still slipped to a fourth domestic game without a win.
"It was a very difficult, very open game," said Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido, who was sent off during the second half. "We kept a cool head."
Earlier, Felipe Caicedo scored the winner as Levante beat Osasuna 2-1 for its fourth win in five games.
The Ecuador striker took advantage of goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez's hesitation in the 50th for his 10th goal of the season.
Walter Pandiani headed Osasuna ahead after 41 minutes before Sergio Ballesteros struck the equalizer three minutes later at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium.
Levante moved one point above Osasuna — which hasn't won away in more than one year — and three clear of Zaragoza, which occupies the last relegation place.Also, Getafe drew 0-0 at Hercules, which has one win in its last six to sit two points above Zaragoza.
Lionel Messi scored his league-leading 26th goal Saturday in Barcelona's 3-0 victory at Mallorca, which stretched the two-time Spanish champion's lead in the standings to seven points after Real Madrid drew 0-0 at Deportivo La Coruna.
The 25th-round of games ends Monday when Almeria plays Malaga in a match-up of the bottom two.
In Saturday's other games, it was: Espanyol 4, Real Sociedad 1; Atletico Madrid 2, Sevilla 2; and Sporting Gijon 0, Zaragoza 0.
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