Diego Conde resists the siege

Valencia’s point against Villarreal was not enough. And not only because he is the only one who has won out of the 12 that have already been shared in the League, which is also true. Baraja’s men left Mestalla bitterly because they deserved more against a Villarreal that continues to reap better results than football and that has Diego Conde with a hero’s cape. He kept the Submarine afloat after Gueye was sent off, thus giving value to Ayoze’s goal, which equalled Hugo Duro’s opening goal.

Marcelino spent practically the whole night on the touchline, especially in the first half, when Villarreal were not playing, when their game was short-circuited between the lines and the losses were continuous. There was a world between Albiol and Barry and the bridge called Parejo was sealed off by Pepelu. Valencia then began to feel more and more comfortable in the match, with the ball closer to Diego Conde than to Mamardashvili.

Of the seven black and white reinforcements, only one was on the pitch (Rioja) and two were even in the box (Maximiliano and Valera). Even Rafa Mir was a substitute this time. Valencia are better off playing with a playmaker than with two forwards and if there is only one ‘9’ it would be Hugo Duro. The Getafe player opened the scoring after a series of errors by the yellow defence and a VAR review due to a possible offside by Diego López, who tried to hit the ball when it was in Diego Conde’s line of vision.

The goal was added to the scoreboard and Valencia took the lead again on the scoreboard, as against Barcelona and Celta. And again they were unable to maintain their lead until half-time. This time they conceded the goal in the last second of the first half, perhaps the only moment in the entire match when their players lacked intensity. In fact, they didn’t even get to the centre. Ayoze, in his debut as a starter, with Danjuma in Girona and Gerard Moreno in the infirmary, showed Marcelino with a shot from the edge of the box that he can count on him whenever he wants, a Marcelino who went into the break looking better after the goal, although aware that it was not deserved.

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Marcelino was so sure that things couldn’t go on like this that he left Parejo in the locker room. The one from Coslada is as respected by the parish of Mestalla for the services provided as he is harmless every time he has returned to what was once his home. With Akhomach, Villarreal took control and the derby became balanced, with chances for Hugo Duro, Rioja, Barry and Yeremy in the middle. But Gueye was sent off for a second yellow card and the script changed radically.

From the 67th minute until the end, Valencia besieged Villarreal, a team pushed by Mestalla, who wanted both their first victory and Peter Lim’s departure. Baraja did his part by bringing in Rafa Mir, Foulquier, Guerra and Canós. But Valencia could not find a way to overcome Diego Condesometimes due to the goalkeeper’s good work, other times because the post crossed Rioja’s path. Whatever the case, Villarreal kept the spoils of the draw and so Valencia goes into the break as sole bottom team.

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