Valencia held to dull draw by Cadiz

Valencia (0)	Cadiz (0)

Our unbeaten streak in the league now stands at five games. But this stalemate against Cadiz feels more like 2 points dropped for the Bats in their late charge towards Europe.

While he has solved Valencia’s previously porous defence, Jose Bordalas will be increasingly concerned at his team’s inability to find the back of the net. “It hasn’t been our best game on an offensive level and we haven’t created much more,” he noted after the game. 

We had our chances though – a Maxi Gomez header had rattled the crossbar in the 35th minute. Minutes later, Cadiz replied with their own headed effort, forcing Giorgi Mamardashvili into an impressive fingertip save. 

But for most parts of the game, it seemed we were afraid to spread our wings and fly. Bryan Gil looked to be the only one awake as he tormented Cadiz’s defence with his mazy runs and magic feet. He came close to tapping home a rebound in the 60th minute and had a contentious penalty appeal waved away when he was brought down in the box after a superb run. 

Which is why there will now be concerns in Valencia’s medical room when Cadiz midfielder Ruben Alcaraz brought Gil down with a cynical knock to leave our No.21 writhing in pain on the ground. A lengthy stoppage ensued before the winger was carried down into the changing room. Let’s hope the injury is not too serious. 

Our most potent spark gone, the rest of the game proceeded without much action before Cadiz no.6 Jose Mari was shown a second yellow for fouling Carlos Soler. Having been subbed on in the 81st minute, it took him just 14 minutes to get sent off. It looked like Cadiz had come to destroy our players rather than play football. 

Despite 6 minutes of stoppage time, Valencia were unable to break the deadlock. “We have to do a little more if we are to look for positive results,” said Gabriel Paulista in the post-match interview. 

There’s definitely much more work to be done. It’s now our third goalless draw of 2022. Had we converted them into wins, we’d be just a point away from the European spots. Instead, we remain 9th. Bordalas will need to get his attackers firing soon – we can’t afford any more drab draws.