Athletic Bilbao came into this game looking to get back to winning ways after a frustrating draw against Leganés in midweek. Their opponents, Valencia, travelled north having failed to win in their last three La Liga fixtures.
Story of the match
Both teams started the game well. Athletic sought to pin the visitors back early on, but Valencia rode the storm well from the outset and looked more than comfortable in possession. Los Che narrowly missed the chance to go ahead on nine minutes, Maxi showing great composure to control the ball with his chest inside the Athletic box and firing just wide of the post - an early warning sign for the home side.
Valencia continued to create chances and began to dominate the play as the first half went on. Ezequiel Garay had a spectacular volley saved by the impressive Unai Simón, and the atmosphere around the San Mamés had become notably tenser.
The deadlock was broken on 27 minutes when Ferrán Torres squared the ball for Denis Cheryshev to finish off an excellent team move which had been started by Dani Parejo. It was no more than Valencia had deserved, and Bilbao were now faced with an uphill task if they were to regain control of this fixture. The home side tried their best to take the game to Valencia but were finding it hard to break down the visitors' resolute defending as the first half drew to a close.
Athletic started the second half well and had what was probably their best chance of the afternoon on 54 minutes. Iñaki Williams had his first shot saved by Jasper Cillessen and watched as his second effort from the rebound came off the post.
Despite numerous Bilbao attacks, Valencia did not sit back and continued their search for a second goal. Simón was constantly busy and did extremely well to keep the Basques in the game throughout the 90 minutes.
Despite Simón's heroics in goal, Athletic often lacked creativity in the final third, and with the exception of Williams' chance at the beginning of the second half, the home side never really looked like scoring. Valencia had the last chance of the afternoon cleared off the line by Yeray Álvarez, but they had already done enough to take a well deserved three points back to the Mestalla.
Takeaways from the match
Athletic lack decisiveness when it counts
"We had 31 crosses, but we really lacked quality and that's what decided the match in the end." Gaizka Garitano told the press after the game. This was indeed Athletic's main problem throughout the 90 minutes, as they went forward time and time again with no end product.
Ferrán Torres impressive
The 19-year-old helped create a number of chances for his team which kept Simón on his toes throughout the match. A key moment in the game was Ferrán's assist for the only goal of the day - showing great determination to square the pass for Cheryshev to finish off.
Valencia earn much-needed win
Saturday's result will do the world of good for Albert Celades' side, who have struggled in recent weeks to get points on the board in La Liga. The first 45 minutes were arguably the best Valencia have had all season, as they looked confident in possession and showed themselves to be dangerous going forward.