Mustafi sends Valencia into second in El Madrigal

There are ways of losing and there are games to be won. Villarreal is getting used to knowing how to do the former, while Valencia did the latter in El Madrigal. It was a shot across the bow from Nuno's side, as much in the home of their neighbours as in the Liga itself. And Valencia without their captain and talisman, Dani Parejo.

Valencia showed that they know how to soak up pressure, because Marcelino's side obliged them to do so. They also showed that they have a decent knock-out punch: two on-target shots from the visiting side at Sergio Asenjo, and three goals. Efficiency that defies simple arithmetic. Villarreal's Manuel Trigueros provided one, Mustafi the other two. And with those strikes Valencia now have 23 points, one shy of Real Madrid's tally. But that is not the fight that concerns this Valencia side. Or at least that is what Nuno keeps preaching: the objective is the Champions League, and the prescribed diet is that of the day-to-day.

There were two walls to break down: Villarreal's was that which says the team plays well against the 'big' sides but loses. Valencia's -- that away from Mestalla Nuno's side are not as ferocious, as the loss in Riazor suggested. The Valencia coach gave his players a push to get over that wall. It was the combined effort of a united team. Marcelino, on the other hand, clattered into his again; in the same vein as against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla, Villarreal worked hard not to lose. But they also did not do enough in order to win.

Details: games like Sunday's are decided by them. And in those concrete moments where the balance is tipped, Valencia were the better side. Fortune smiled on the visitor in the case of Trigueros' own goal, Mustafi and Nicolás Otamendi proved to be a life insurance policy and whatever the central defensive partnership didn't repel, Diego Alves did. Two saves that were worth the same number of points, one from Denis Cheryshev and another from Bruno Soriano. And Mustafi, with Pablo Piatti as his assistant and his drive from defence, knocked out one side and gave another their dues.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1udSin6

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