Valencia and Villarreal provided a tremendous spectacle on Saturday night, but neither side could claim the three points.
Unai Emery decided to use David Albelda as a makeshift right-back, following the suspension of Miguel. Otherwise, Los Che lined up as expected.
Villarreal, meanwhile, kept Robert Pires on the bench, granting Ariel Ibagaza a start. Guiseppe Rossi and Joseba Llorente were paired together up front.
First Half
These derbies are never short of incident, and it only took two minutes for this one to ignite. With the first attack of the game, Joaquín's cross from the left found Rubén Baraja, who headed home with ease to give Valencia a dream start. By contrast, it was the last thing a struggling Villarreal side needed.
They were down but not out though, as Ibagaza almost equalized instantly. His chip nearly caught Renan out, but the keeper managed to tip over the bar. A melee ensued from the resulting corner, but Valencia somehow managed to clear off the line.
Villarreal were coming back into the game, but all such plans were abruptly halted on ten minutes, when Valencia got their second. Albelda played David Villa in on the right, and El Guaje faked before shooting in at the near post, thus compounding the Yellow Submarines' misery.
Despite the scoreline, Villarreal continued to look lively, albeit without any end product. After a brief lull in play, the game exploded again on 37 minutes. First, Llorente headed down Joan Capdevila's cross, but it was cleared off the line after Renan missed. Valencia then went immediately up the other end and nearly scored, but David Silva's shot from ten yards out flied over after hitting the bar.
On the stroke of half-time, Valencia thought they had a third, only to see the ball come back agonizingly off the post, as Juan Mata flicked on from Villa's cross. That was not the end of the action, however, as Villarreal mounted one final attack, and scored.
With mere seconds remaining on the clock, the visitors earned a corner, which found its way to Fabricio Fuentes, who had only come on for the injured Gonzalo, and he duly headed in from six yards, to set up an intriguing second half.
Second Half
Manuel Pellegrini made an immediate change, bringing Edmilson on for Sebastian Eguren, presumably to prevent his side from going a man down. On 52 minutes, Santi Cazorla had a brilliant chance to equalize, but he could only volley Capdevila's cross well wide, with only the keeper to beat from about six yards out.
While there was certainly no shortage of intent in the second half, both sides were finding it harder to create genuine opportunities. The frustration began to show, as a host of rash challenges began to fly in. With about half an hour remaining, Manuel Pellegrini made his last sub, withdrawing Bruno for Pires.
On 66 minutes, Valencia came close when a long throw found it's way to Mata, whose bicycle kick flew just over. Five minutes later, Villa should have sealed the game, but he somehow contrived to tap Siva's cross over the bar.
At the other end, Santi Cazorla wasted another golden opportunity to equalize, although this time Renan rushed out and made a smart save from the attempted chip. It was not to matter though, as the visitors equalized moments later.
Cazorla released Llorente down the left, but while his initial shot was blocked by Renan, he pounced on the rebound from an even tighter angle, smashing the ball into the roof of the net. Their joy, however, was to be short-lived.
Valencia won a corner and played it short to Mata, who crossed for Edu to rise superbly and head into the top corner. One of the game's unluckiest players had come on and scored the vital goal, and the Mestalla erupted.
Incredibly, he nearly doubled his tally with an almost identical effort from a free-kick, but this time Lopéz saved brilliantly to his right. Meanwhile, Godín saw a header of his own flash just wide of the far post at the other end. Suddenly, the match had exploded back into life.
The drama, however, had only just begun. With eight minutes left, Capdevila won one of the softest penalties ever to have been awarded. Going down under a feather of a touch from Joaquin at the edge of the box, he looked as surprised as anyone when the ref pointed to the spot. Rossi duly stepped up sent the keeper the wrong way, making the scores level yet again.
With five minutes to go, the Italian came close again, but his shot from the left was well saved by Renan. David Villa then broke into the box and had a deflected shot which almost looped over Lopéz. Mass confusion ensued from the resulting corner, but somehow the ball stayed out.
Valencia had one final opportunity from a free-kick, but Mata's header flew over. That was to be the last action of a frantic derby, a both sides earned a point that may prove vital in the weeks to come.
Valencia 3-3 Villarreal
Baraja 2 Fuentes 45
Villa 9 Llorente 76
Edu 79 Rossi 84
Valencia: Renan - Albelda, Marchena, Albiol (Edu 73), Moretti (Del Horno 61) - David Silva, Manuel Fernandes (Maduro 55), Baraja, Joaquín - Mata, Villa
Villarreal: Diego López - Ángel, Gonzalo (Fuentes 22), Godín, Capdevila - Cazorla, Bruno (Pires 64), Eguren (Edmilson 45), Ibagaza - Rossi, Llorente
Yellow Cards: Eguren 21, Bruno 48, Fuentes 59
Arjun Miglani, Goal.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment