Valencia has been on fire since losing to Malaga back in early February. They have been on a six game undefeated streak and since has gone from fifth place to now third, surpassing Atlético Madrid on the league table. With Friday’s win against Deportivo La Coruña, they are inching a step closer to the UEFA Champions League competition.
Valencia has been able to find the form they needed and have since shown fans and other teams what they are made of. They have given the other top four teams competition and are in not only for a Champions League spot but also for that league title. Thanks to Sevilla dropping a lot of points in the past few games along with Atlético Madrid, they have been able to secure third place now, with 57 points, five points ahead of Sevilla and now one point ahead of Atlético Madrid. They also sit eight points behind league leaders Barcelona and seven behind Real Madrid.
The first goal for Valencia came in the second half of the match when they were awarded a penalty when Juanfran brought down Pablo Piatti inside the box. The Argentinian had seen a low strike stopped by goalkeeper Fabricio and was the first one to the scene to get the rebound. He positioned himself in front of the ball and this forced Juanfran to go through him as he desperately tried to clear the ball away.
Dani Parejo took care of the penalty kick, sent Fabricio the wrong way with a low strike to the keeper’s right and putting his team in the lead.
Eleven minutes after the penalty was awarded, Paco Alcacer took care of things as he helped the game become a bit safer. Piatti was again involved during the play, jumping to a loose ball in the box before allowing Sofiane Feghouli to take possession of the ball. After taking possession, Feghouli saved the ball from going out of bounds, finding Paco waiting for the ball just inside the area and tapping it in and past Fabricio.
Valencia was able to take the three points today against a struggling Deportivo and now sit in third place in the league table. The man of the match goes out to Pablo Piatti, who was involved in both plays that ended in goals. Valencia faces Elche on Friday while Deportivo faces Espanyol on Sunday.