Category: Match Report

On a wild evening at the Mestalla, Valencia and Sevilla produced a mind-bogglingly tense, tight and testy game of football.

In the end, a mistake from a rookie and injuries to several key players made this another game to forget. The problems in the game were again glaring: careless defending, a lack of killer instinct and the inability to capitalise on possession.

On a night when Jaume Domenech made a stupendous penalty stop, Lionel Messi equalled Pele’s goal record at a single club, and Barca defender Ronald Araujo scored a gravity-defying scissor kick, it was instead poor officiating and VAR that stole the headlines.

Another game, another fightback.

Just when Valencia looked to have thrown this game away, they managed to escape from the jaws of defeat once again when Manu Vallejo popped up with a header with just 7 minutes left on the clock.

This was the night when Valencia had wanted to prove their mettle, to fire the excitement of what looks to be an unpredictable but promising season ahead, with so many of its young guns stepping up.

And now breathe. That’s 3 matches in a row now that this young Valencia side have induced gasps – and not always of pleasure – on Sunday 9pm. The team went from fumbling foreplay for most of the game against Deportivo Alaves to frenetic climax in the last half-hour, scoring two goals in quick succession to level the game before blowing a load of chances to win deep in. Sheer drama heated up the wintry night in Basque County.

For 90 minutes of normal time, it was a match devoid of much action. Then as fans were about to switch off their televisions, it descended into madness.