Valencia Vs. Stoke City, 2012 Europa League: Valencia Cruise To Next Round

Valencia saw off Stoke City at the Mestalla to advance to the last sixteen of the 2012 Europa League. The hosts had already beaten the Potters 1-0 in England, so it seemed as though they'd have a fairly easy ride through this match even before kickoff, and so it proved. Stoke played with some intensity in the first half, but they were undone in the 24th minute when Pablo Hernandez waltzed through their defence and cut back for Jonas to tuck home.

The goal had come shortly after Stoke winger Diego Arismendi went down at the top of the Valencia box - a foul that wasn't given - and a 2-0 deficit was simply too much for the visitors to recover from. They tested goalkeeper Vicente Guaita a few times, but looked more likely to have a man sent off (Stoke received five booking in the match, four of them in a 13 minute orgy of dissent) than to notch the two goals they needed to advance. Meanwhile, Valencia were buzzing, always looking like a threat to score again. Ultimately, they didn't need to, and they advance to the next round in some style.