Valencia fall from third place

The Liga BBVA matchday 29 derby between Valencia CF and Villarreal CF ended with a 0-0 draw. It was one-sided traffic during the first 45 minutes as the visitors controlled the game. However, it was a completely different story after the half time break, with Nuno Espírito Santo’s charges moving the ball around and bombarding the opposition’s box in search of a winner towards the end of the game.

Villarreal began with a blistering tempo and attempted to quash Valencia in their home ground. Although Marcelino’s men failed to carve out any clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, they did dictate the play. On the stroke of the 20-minute mark, a Jonathan dos Santos free kick bounced perilously in the six-yard box, which Diego Alves just about managed to deal with to stave off the danger. Shortly afterwards, André Gomes had a good chance to put Valencia in front, but Tomás Pina was alert to the danger and blocked the Portuguese man’s effort. Shkodran Mustafi also tried to break the deadlock with a header off the back of a Pablo Piatti-taken free kick.

Both teams showed their will to win the game following the half time break and, in the 47th minute, they both bore down on each other’s goals. Bit by bit Valencia began to have more of the possession, resulting in a great bit of build-up play that culminated with Paco Alcácer sending the ball over the crossbar. The upsurge in the home side’s performance saw Los Che threaten the Villarreal goal more frequently. Rodrigo Moreno dispatched a shot goalwards in the 70', Asenjo was unable to hold onto the ball and Alcácer followed up with a headed effort, which the Yellows’ keeper finally managed to deal with.

Valencia bore down on the visitors’ goal in the dying stages of the encounter, but Sergio Asenjo put on an heroic display to keep his team in the game. The spoils were shared at the final whistle, a result that sees Valencia slip down to fourth, one point behind third-placed Atlético Madrid, while Villarreal remain in sixth with 50 points.