He did not score, but Juan Mata's offensive stamina was on display Saturday
The Estadio de Mastella housed two frustrated squads on Saturday night. Coming into the evening Valencia would look to maintain their control of the third spot in La Liga after their disappointing effort against Sevilla. For their part, Real Valladolid desperately seek points. Not having managed a win in 2010, coach Jose Luis Mendilibar was dismissed this week, leaving Onésimo Sánchez to try to find a recipe to inch them a little further from the drop-zone.
The first event of note would not be a pleasant. 7 minutes in, Valencia coach Unai Emery would be forced to sub off David Navarro for Carlos Marchena after the former appeared to suffer a back injury during an innocuous play.
But when play resumed Valencia took the ball quickly up the pitch. Pablo Hernández would push a wayward ball into the middle that would be stolen back by Éver Banega. With a zig-zag move–moving left as if to pass–Banega swiftly brought the ball back to his right foot and offered a fabulous shot from 19 yards out that landed in the top left corner. Golaso.
Valladolid would try to bounce back, but in the early going it was only Jonathan Sesma that showed signs of life for the visitors. First sending a cross inside on 11 minutes that would bounce uncomfortably for keeper César Sánchez, but the ball would eventually be cleared by Marchena.
Soon thereafter, Valencia would reestablish their control of the match. Jeremy Mathieu made one of many great plays moving up into play from his left-back position. Sending in a cross to Juan Mata, the winger would force a tremendous right-handed save by Justo Villar. The following corner, taken short, was brought inside to Mathieu, who pushed the ball just over the bar.
Mata would later offer a deep cross that would find David Silva in the box. His header would not be threatening, as it to would be arched over the bar, but Valencia would continue to show their success down the left.
Only 28 minutes in, David Villa would casually net his 15th goal of the season. After a corner taken from the right, Banega would send in a wonderful cross to the far post. Staying on side, Villa would make a two-step move to dive through the ball, once again leaving Villar without a chance.
The second half would see Valladolid forced to be more adventurous—pushing more players from midfield into the attack to support Diego Costa up top.
A Haris Medunjanin cross would be the first real scare. Dropping to César Arzo, his header fell just wide–though Valencia’s own César looked to be a position to make the save.
The second chance would be a gift from Valencia. A terrible back pass from Pablo was intercepted by Costa, who only had the keeper to beat. But César would once again be in the right place, coming off his line to parry it to safety.
With the new pressure from Valladolid being contained, Valencia would demonstrate their counterattacking skills. The three-pronged attack of Mata, Silva, and Villa would dictate the remainder of the match.
On 61 minutes Villa almost netted his second —but his sliding effort would dink off the post. His effort would commence a multitude of chances from Valencia. Only the most hard-hearted of Valladolid fans would think the home squad did not deserve another one or two goals. But none of the efforts could find the back of the net.
Mata put in the most laudable of performances, actively getting forward in every attack—and attempting at least 6 strong shots in the second half alone. He looked starved for a goal, but it would not come. After sub Chori Domínguez sent in a cross that Mata missed high over the bar, his patience had run out—kicking the post with the same right-foot that showed so much determination but lacked the requisite finesse.
Valladolid would never be able to recover from Valencia’s offensive clinic, leaving themselves the possibility of dropping into the relegation zone tomorrow should Tenerife or Real Zaragoza secure a victory.
With the win Valencia have moved six points ahead of Sevilla.
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