La Liga: Sevilla Punishes Valencia 2-0 for Mehmet Topal’s mistake
Espanyol moved ahead of Valencia in the Spanish La Liga table, as they beat Malaga on the weekend. Valencia had a tough job ahead of them as they faced Sevilla at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. In the end, Sevilla won the match,
moving closer to the top four in La Liga, while Valencia failed to reclaim their position in top four.
Valencia had an early setback when their midfielder Mehmet Topal was sent off in the first half-an-hour of the match. Sevilla used the ten-man advantage in their favour as they scored twice in the second half. Alvaro Negredo and
Alejandro Alfaro were on target for the home side as they cruised their way to victory.
Sevilla’s great run under Gregorio Manzano continues as the Red-Whites have won their seventh match in nine competitive games since the new man is in charge. Valencia, on the other hand, has been facing problems since Barcelona
put an end to their dream run in this season. Also, Valencia has never won away at Sevilla since 2004, and this terrible form continues.
Both Negredo and Alfaro had no place in Manzano’s starting XI, as the manager started with the usual forwards, Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute. Jesus Navas was missing for Sevilla in this game as Diego Perotti got another start.
Roberto Soldado and Aritz Aduriz started for Valencia, while they were supported by Juan Mata and Joaquin.
In the opening minutes of the match, no one really had an upper hand. Both Sevilla and Valencia had their chances, but the goalkeepers saved the day for their teams. First, Fabiano drew a save on one end, and then Mata did the
exact same on the other. However, in the 24th minute, the Turkish player Topal was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Martin Caceres, turning the tide in Sevilla’s favour.
However, the goal did not come in the first half, as the visitors kept on defending well against the hosts. Sevilla had to wait till second half, when Negredo came as a substitute for Romaric in the 53rd minute. The
forward was on target after just two minutes of coming on the pitch. Caceres took a long range shot which was not properly cleared by the keeper. Negredo capitalized on the weak clearance as he put the ball behind the net.
Manzano made another great substitution in the 74th minute, as he brought Alfaro for Perotti. This substitution proved fruitful, like the previous one, within three minutes of coming on the pitch. Mouhamadou Dabo put
a ball on the far post, which was headed home by an unmarked Alfaro. Valencia were clearly outnumbered by their opponents, as an early red card proved fatal in the end.
Both teams had plenty of chances in the closing minutes of the match, but the score-line was undeterred. Soldado was denied by Sevilla on one end, and a quick release resulted in a counterattack. However, Negredo failed to put
the ball past Valencia’s goalkeeper on the other end of the pitch.
There could have been more goals for Sevilla, as they had many opportunities. Luis Fabiano hit the post, at the time when Sevilla was up by only one goal. Diego Capel also hit the woodwork towards the closing minutes of the match.
In the end, the match ended with Sevilla winning by 2-0.
After the poor start to the La Liga season, Sevilla is now level on points with Valencia, but they are below them on goal difference. There are only two teams now between Sevilla and the Champions League finish, which seems to
be the ultimate goal for this season. Valencia, on the other hand, would have to get their heads straight, as they look vulnerable for the first time since losing David Villa and David Silva in the summer.
Tags: