A brace from Pablo Piatti was enough for Valenica who dominated their 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad at the Mestalla on Sunday afternoon.
Sociedad were the first to strike with Imanol Agirretxe came close but Valenica dominated from that point onward with Sofiane Fegouhli, Shkodran Mustafi and Nicolas Otamendi all coming close but couldn’t find the clinical touch. It didn’t take long for Piatti to score in the second half with his two strikes only coming three minutes apart, Alvarado Negredo and Rodrigo Moreno Machado came close to a third but Piatti had done enough to claim the three points.
David Moyes’ side had the first real chance of the game six minutes in when a high ball was missed by the defender and fell straight to Agirretxe but keeper Diego Alves is straight out at the strikers feet to claim the ball.
Valenica stepped up the gears after that early opportunity when Fergouhli was bearing down the right flank and had striker Negredo free in the middle but he went for the shot which subsequently went wide much to the striker’s disgust.
Defender Mustafi had his first opportunity at goal in the 18th minute when the clearance fell to him on the edge of the area but his attempted volley was wayward. He had another chance nine minutes later when he rose highest to head the corner goal bound but Geronimo Rulli did enough to tip it over. The best chance of the half came from the subsequent corner, the ball was initially cleared but the ball back in was played to Otamendi who wasn’t offside but he his chance over the bar.
With nine minutes to play in the half Sociedad nearly took the lead totally against the run of play, Esteban Granero played a great cross into the area which found Xabi Prieto but Mustafi blocked well to keep the scores level.
Valenica picked up where they left off and it wasn’t long until they finally took the lead, Daniel Paejo who received the ball from the thrown in fizzed the ball across the area to Piatti whose shot deflected off Ion Ansotegi and into the bottom corner.
Three minutes later the Argentine added his and Valencia’s second, a ball up the wing came to Fergouhli who played a simple cross across the floor into the on running Piatti who coolly slots it into the corner.
Negredo nearly grabbed a third in the 69th minute when hit a sweet volley from the ball over the top but it could only find the side netting. The final real opportunity fell to substitute Rodrigo who was picked out at the far post his shot went back across goal but it was wide of the post.
Valenica well deserving of their victory as they pretty much dominated for the whole 90 minutes and could have easily got more than two goals, that victory keeps up their excellent recent record and puts them level on points with current champions Atletico Madrid who face a tough trip to face high-flying Sevilla late on Sunday.
This was a bad day at the office for Moyes and his side who were played off the park by their counterparts this afternoon and never really brought anything to the game. This loss keeps them in mid-table which isn’t a terrible positon to be in but it does mean that their terrible record of not winning an away game in La Liga this season continues.