Valencia beat Espanyol 2-1

 valenciafc.com

This past weekend Valencia recorded another 2-1 victory, this time using mostly substitute and reserve players, with the intention of keeping key players fresh for the upcoming match between Valencia and Chelsea on Tuesday. There were a lot of fireworks in the match against Espanyol with both teams creating lots of scoring chances. It was a fitting performance seeing as Valencia celebrated one of their all time greats, Mario Kempes, in a ceremony dedicated to his “goal scoring prowess” before the match. In the end Valencia managed to avoid the second half slump, that has been plaguing them all season, and scraped out the 2-1 victory.

The first play of note came from Pablo Hernandez, after Pablo Piatti’s pass was deflected onto his path, giving him the long shot opportunity but Espanyol keeper, Christian Alvarez, did well to save the shot, Valencia seemed keen on taking their chances from distance and set pieces as Tino Costa and Pablo Hernandez did their best to terrorize Alvarez’s goal wherever they could. The first goal came in 6 minutes, thanks to some neat interplay between Pablo Hernandez and Antonio Barragan, winning Valencia a corner. In the scramble for position, Angel Dealbert was brought down in the box, earning Valencia the penalty. Tino Costa did his compatriot, Kempes, proud when he slammed home the go ahead goal for Los Che.

Espanyol would get their first chance moments later, after an Espanyol set piece was saved by Diego Alves at the near post but Valencia would not relent. Costa and Hernandez would get back to work, bombarding Alvarez from every angle ending the first half with Valencia feeling quite comfortable with the dominant performance they were exerting over Espanyol. However, in the second half, Espanyol got the chance they were waiting for.

Espanyol winger, Thievey, got space on the right side, and his left footed cross was wonderfully dummied through to Moreno who made no mistake and equalized. Valencia continued to pile on the pressure, with Aduriz and Topal both coming close to heading in goals from corners, to no avail. Things were looking desperate for Valencia and it appeared as though the infamous halftime slump would again haunt them.

Valencia continued attacking hard, challenging from distance and set pieces, but they couldn’t break through. Finally after the introduction of some key players like Roberto Soldado and Jonas, Valencia found their second goal in the 80^h minute, courtesy of “Goldado” himself. Soldado had only entered the match four minutes prior for Aduriz, but a well struck corner from Tino Costa found the Spaniard and Soldado headed wonderfully past Alvarez for the 2-1. Both teams would hold their own afterwards without further incident. Valencia rose out of the Mestalla with all three points, a fitting homage to Kempes, one of their finest goal scorers.

Lineups

Valencia CF: Diego Alves, Barragán (Bruno, m.46), Rami, Dealbert, Jordi Alba; Topal, Tino Costa; Pablo, Piatti (Jonas, m.68), Mathieu; Aduriz (Soldado, m.76).

RCD Espanyol: Cristian Álvarez; Galán (Rui Fonte, m.61), Raúl Rodríguez, Héctor Moreno, Dídac; Cristian Gómez (Baena, m.75), Forlín; Verdú, Thievy, Weiss; Álvaro (Bacari, m.85).

Goals: 1-0, m.6: Tino Costa, de penalti. 1-1, m.68: Héctor Moreno. 2-1, m.80: Soldado

By: David Wall

Edited: Matt Tobin