Levante vs Valencia CF, 6th Nov 2011

The Valencia Derby!

By Shivashankar

After Osasuna brought the surprise leaders Levante to ground in GW9, Valencia underlined that, the honeymoon period is over and out for Levante! For the first time since the 1964-65 season, Levante found itself ahead of Valencia in the league table before an encounter between the two sides.

Levante hosted Valencia, at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, in a clash between the 3rd and 4th placed teams in La Liga. For Valencia, Ever Banega, Miguel and Ricardo Costa missed out due to injuries and for Levante, Javi Venta and Kone recovered from their injuries and were in the starting XI.

Levante started the game brilliantly, with Barkero sending Juanlu through, inside the box. But Valancia’s keeper, Guita, made a clean save. This injected some adrenaline into Valencia, as they started to press hard, and look for the opener. A couple of freekicks and a corner came Valencia’s way, within the 1st 8 minutes due to their attacking play. Unai Emery had to bring in Barragan for Bruno, who injured his ankle from a rough tackle, as early the 15th minute. The game progressed in a dull manner, till the half hour mark, as neither of the teams were able to stamp their authority in the mid field battle. However, in the 31st minute, Tino Costa made an excellent defense splitting pass, to send Jordi Alba through on goal. Alba’s strike was deflected by Javi Venta, to result in an ugly own goal. Los Che also had a claim for a penalty turned down in the 35th minute. The rest of the 1st half was nothing but a carding spree by referee, Carlos Grande, who flashed out 5 yellow cards.

Valencia had a lackluster start to the second half, as Levante pressed hard for the equalizer. Soldado was fouled outside the box, in the 50th minute and Tino Costa, who created the opener, lashed home the freekick. The swirl of the ball, completely fooled Munua. Meanwhile, the referee dished out 3 more yellow cards. For Levante, in the 71st minute, Kone wasted a good opportunity to score, by trying too much on his own (as he could have instead assisted Aranda) as his effort flew past the post. Couple of minutes later, Aranda tried to make amends, with a tremendous strike after barging through the right, only to see his effort exceptionally saved by Guita. Both the teams made a few substitutions, mainly a move inspired by the yellow cards! The final few minutes was as uninteresting and dull, as neither managed to even create a decent attack. The
game ended with the referee producing yet another yellow!

With this result, Valencia leapfrog Levante into 3rd place and are now level with Barcelona, on 24 points (Having played an extra game.)

TOP OF THE MATCH

Tino Costa – Excellent game by the Argentine. Had a great vision in setting up the first goal and slotted home a freekick to seal the win.

FLOP OF THE MATCH

Javi Venta – Untidy defending for most for the game and responsible for the horrible own goal.