Coming into Saturday night's encounter, Valencia and Atlético Madrid could not be separated in the table, but ninety minutes later, Valencia had secured an important win and second place on the Primera Division.
The big news for Valencia was the return of David Silva to the starting line-up, after he'd made a few appearances as a substitute at the end of last year.
Atletico, meanwhile, lined up as expected, with the exception of Luis Garcia taking the place of the injured Maxi Rodriguez.
First Half
Much was expected from this fixture, and it only took a minute for it to come to life. David Villa went past Johnny Heitinga and slotted past Leo Franco, but the referee ruled that El Guaje had fouled the Dutchman. It was a borderline call, which could have gone either way. Seconds later, Franco was forced into another save, as Villa's shot from distance deflected towards goal.
Soon Valencia had another goal ruled out, and there were only four minutes on the clock! The ball smashed against the crossbar, leaving David Silva with an easy tap in, but the referee ruled that Juan Mata was offside. Whether he was interfering in the play was, as ever, a matter of interpretation, but the referee had no doubts.
There was no doubt as to which side was on top, with Valencia attacking with force at every opportunity. On 17 minutes, Joaquín's cross along the floor found Silva inches out, but his flick trickled agonizingly wide of the far post.
On the half hour, there was yet another moment of contention, as Villa appealed for a penalty, having been dragged down by Luis Perea in the box. Again, the referee waved play on, but on this occasion he looked to have made the wrong decision. That would become a recurring theme, as minutes later, Atleti suffered from an absolutely shocking decision.
The ball was crossed in to the box and Ruben Baraja quite literally threw himself to the floor, while the referee inexplicably blew for a non-existent penalty. Atletico were incensed, and understandably so. David Villa, however, was not bothered, and he coolly slotted home to give Valencia the lead.
The goal had clearly rattled Atletico, and with five minutes left, they were made to pay as Valencia launched an incisive attack. Miguel broke free on the right and set up David Silva, who controlled well into the box and slotted it past Leo Franco with his right foot. There were no doubts about this one, and Valencia looked on course for a comfortable win.
All that changed, however, with a minute to go. Ruben Baraja was adjudged to have fouled Kun Agũero in the box, and Diego Forlán duly stepped up and slotted into the bottom right hand corner. It was a strange incident, given that none of the Atléti players seemed intent on even appealing for the penalty, but they were not complaining, as they went into the break having reduced the deficit.
Second Half
The second half started as the first had finished, with the ball flowing from end to end, without any clear cut chances being created. Both Simão and Joaquín were getting forward at will, but they were being denied sufficient space to make a significant impact.
On the hour, Forlán had the first real chance of the half, but his shot from distance flew just wide of the far post. There was certainly no love lost between the two sids, with plenty of tasty challenges flying in and words being exchanged. Sensing the need for a change, Javier Aguirre sent on Florent Sinama-Pongolle for Luis García, who had endured a fairly disappointing game.
Unai Emery responded by removing Ruben Baraja and throwing on Manuel Fernandes, in an effort to inject some creativity into a game that was starting to get caught up in too many fouls and not enough chances. It did not take long for that to change, as David Silva marked his return to the starting line-up with another goal, this one right out of the top drawer. Receiving the ball from Joaquín, Silva strode forward and let fly from outside the box, and his shot swerved past Leo Franco and in at the near post.
It was a spectacular strike from Silva, who had been a class above everyone on the pitch, and had shown just how much Valencia had missed him. The momentum was with Los Che, and suddenly they looked like the only side capable of scoring. With 15 minutes to go, Atléti had a great chance to pull one back, but Mariano Pernia's free-kick went straight against the wall.
With about ten minutes to go, Emery withdrew a tiring Juan Mata and replaced him with Vicente, ensuring that there would be no respite for the visitors. Sinama soon had a half-chance, but his shot flew wide after jinking past four players on the edge of the box. Emery then made his final switch, taking off the hero of the night David Silva, and replacing him with Edu.
With time running out, Villa almost added a fourth when he went on a mazy run, but Perea finally got across to block his left footed shot. Rául García then played a neat one-two with Forlan, before being brought down just outside the box. Pernia rifled in the free-kick, but Renan pulled off a brilliant save low down to his right, thus seemingly extinguishing all hopes of an Atléti comeback. Agũero had not given up though, but his shot from distance was also well saved.
There was still time, however, for Simao and Edu to throw all sorts of insults at each other, but that was the last major incident of the match, as Valencia claimed all three points, moving up to second place in the process.
Valencia 3-1 Atlético Madrid
Villa 34 Forlán 45
Silva 39, 67
Valencia: Renan - Miguel, Maduro, Albiol, Moretti - Joaquín, Albelda, Baraja (Manuel Fernandes 67), David Silva - Mata (Vicente 81), Villa
Atletico Madrid: Leo Franco - Perea, Ujfalusi, Heitinga, Pernía - Simão, Assuncao, Rául García, Luis García (Sinama-Pongolle 63) - Forlán, Agũero
Yellow Cards: Rául García 32, Baraja 44, Albelda 71, Perea 74, Heitinga 77
--Arjun Miglani, Goal.com
Posts
