Valencia's form hasn't been spectacular of late, but they put in a great performance at the Mestalla to see off AZ Alkmaar and advance to the Europa League semifinals.
Having lost 2-1 in the Netherlands, things weren't looking ideal for Unai Emery's men, but they got off to a blistering start at home, going ahead 2-0 within the first 17 minutes through the unlikely figure of Adil Rami.
Set-piece defending did AZ in -- twice in three minutes they allowed Rami time and space on short corners -- and they were made to pay the price both times as Valencia raced out to a lead. Although a 2-0 scoreline was hardly safe for the home side -- an Alkmaar goal would have meant extra time -- Valencia always looked like the winners and left back Jordi Alba grabbed another just after the interval to secure the win. Substitute Pablo Hernández came on in the 75th minute, and before long the midfielder made it 4-0 with a lovely curling effort about which Esteban Alvarado could do nothing.
After two minutes of injury time, 4-0 is how it would end, meaning that Valencia advance with a 5-2 aggregate win. Not bad going, eh? Los Che will face Atlético Madrid, who beat Bundesliga side Hannover 96 4-2 on aggregate. Alkmaar, meanwhile, will be left to reflect on a pretty thumping loss, one that really demonstrated the wide gulf in class between the two sides.
There are 0 Comments. Add Yours.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.