Majestic Valdes saves Barca from red face at Mestalla

Valencia and Barcelona shared the points last night at the Mestalla in one of the best matches we have seen this season. Valencia knew how to control the game against Barca and suffocated them with so much pressure they were able to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make the Catalans uncomfortable.

This led to a great match where the homeside went ahead first with a goal from Argentine Ever Banega. Soon after, Leo Messi equalized from the penalty spot after a foul on Pedro in the box. In the final minutes of the clash, Victor Valdes saved his team with a majestic save.

Strangely, Barca only had two shots on goal during the whole match, one of them a penalty. From this, we can get an idea of ??the type of opposition that Barca was up against at the Mestalla stadium. Valencia got out of the starting blocks early and went looking for the Catalans in their half of the field and really pressured them. Although Barcelona is accustomed to having most of the ball play, it didn’t help much. Every time Barca got into Valencia’s half they got stuck and hit a brick wall.

Valencia had a game plan and began to punish the Catalans on the counterattack. Guardado had a great game for Valencia and was very comfortable on the left wing.

Having the ball does not always mean control of the match and this game at the Mestalla was a fine example. As luck would have it, Ever Banega, who has been in the press this week for turning up late for training on Friday, scored Valencia’s goal. The Argentine pounced on a poor clearance by Piqué and rifled a shot past Valdes. The goal earned him the forgiveness of his fans, who gave him a standing ovation when he was substituted by Valverde for Canales.

The home team’s advantage was short lived however. Joao Pereira committed a foul on Pedro just inside the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. Messi stepped up and equalized for Barcelona with a great spot kick. Despite not being one of Messi’s better performances, he has scored in the last 12 consecutive matches – amazing.

After the break, the match continued on the same level with neither team taking full control. There were chances for both teams with Valencia having most of them. Fabregas, Villa, Guardado and Soldado had the best chances of the match.

Down to the last few minutes with the match already tied, Valencia tried one last chance to mix it with Barcelona leader. Cissokho robbed Gerard Piqué on the wing and fired in a cross that could have sealed the deal for Valencia. Valdes made a great first stop and the, rebound fell to Roberto Soldado which normally would have been child’s play for a striker like him. Soldado went for the kill and the impossible happened. Valdes appeared out of nowhere to save a certain goal that reminded us of Iker Casillas’ save against Sevilla.

After that scare two minutes were left on the clock and Roura thanked his lucky stars that he managed to come away with a draw as it could have been much worse.