Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Real Madrid spurned the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of La Liga yesterday Evening after a surprise defeat away at Valencia. Real played the first of their two games in hand at The Mestalla and somewhat come unstuck against a Valencia side that has had a torrid time this season by their own standards.
Los Che got off to the perfect start though when West Ham flop Simone Zaza was given enough time to turn and shoot in the box. He fizzed in a stunning finish past Kaylor Navas and Valencia were ahead after just 4 minutes.
And life would get even better for the home side as their lead would be doubled within the first 10 minutes of the game, Fabian Orellana finished off a neat counter attacking move to put Valencia 2-0 and well in control of proceedings.
Real were on the ropes but finally woke up just before half time when who else but Cristiano Ronaldo was on hand to halve the deficit, a towering header – on what was his 700th club appearance in his career gave Los Blancos a semblence of hope.
Try as they might Real searched for an equaliser to at least stretch the gap at the top of the table to two points but Valencia’s resolve held out, Ronaldo nearly broke Valencia hearts though as he could have snatched a point late on, but failed to hit the target with his looping header. Relief for the home side as they managed to grind out a much needed win.
That result sees Valencia movew up to 14th in the table with a healthy 10 point buffer between themselves and the drop zone while Barcelona and Sevilla fans will have cause for optimism with the race for the title just becoming slightly more open.
Here is all you need to know from last night
