VALENCIA, 2019, DECEMBER 07 – Valencia CF staged a brilliant comeback at Levante UD‘s ground (2-4) in a match that had two distinct halves, with the home team dominating the first half and the visiting team completely taking over the second half to overturn the 2-0 lead that Levante had built up.
Valencia once again showed their dual personality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and after a poor start, a goal in the last play of the first half and a blazing start to the second half led them to dominate and win El Derbi Valenciano.
Levante began much more involved in the game than Valencia, and although they didn’t create chances in the early stages, they opened the scoring on their first clear opportunity through Roger Martí, who beat Cillessen with a shot placed into the corner.
The goal gave Paco López‘s team even more energy, while Valencia struggled even more, unable to shake off Levante’s dominance. In the 18th minute, Levante increased their lead from the penalty spot, putting the derby firmly in their favour.
As in previous games this season, Valencia started the match completely disconnected, but this time they paid dearly with two early goals against a more motivated and intense opponent.
Furthermore, just before the half-hour mark, Jasper Cillessen, who had complained of back pain the day before, had to be replaced by Jaume Doménech.
Valencia only managed to wake up in the final ten minutes of the first half. They hovered around Aitor Fernández’s area, had a goal ruled out for offside, Rodrigo Moreno missed a clear goal chance, and in the final play of the first half, they scored to make it 2-1.
It was an own goal by Roger Martí after a corner kick taken by Dani Parejo, allowing the visitors to head into halftime with a less precarious situation.
Although Valencia came out in the second half having learned their lesson from the poor start, it was Levante who came closest to increasing their lead, but José Luis Morales’ shot after a quick run into the box was saved brilliantly by Jaume.
However, Valencia’s improved performance in this period led them to overturn the scoreline in just two minutes with a brace from Frenchman Kevin Gameiro.
First, a mistake in Levante’s ball progression was seized by Rodrigo, who served the ball on a plate for Gameiro to equalise in the 57th minute. Then, in the 59th minute, a swift counterattack involving Rodrigo and Ferrán Torres ended with Gameiro beating Aitor again.
The match became more balanced at this point, but Valencia appeared to have more control of the situation. They gave the ball to their rivals and continued to look for counterattacks, which had caused Levante so much trouble.
Additionally, Levante lost young player Eliseo Falcón to a red card in the 73rd minute, which seemed to make their task even harder. Valencia nearly sealed the game shortly afterward, but Rodrigo’s header from Ferrán’s cross went wide.
It was Ferrán Torres who didn’t miss, sealing the derby in the 88th minute, giving Valencia a 4-2 victory after coming back from 2-0 down with authority.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
GOALS:
Roger Martí (11’, 20′ PEN); Roger Martí (45+3’ OG), Kevin Gameiro (57′, 59′), Ferrán Torres (88′)
LEVANTE UD
Aitor Fernández, Jorge Miramón, Coke (Gonzalo Pereira 77′), Eliseo Falcón, Carlos Clerc, Nemanja Radoja, José Campaña, Enis Bardhi, Rubén Rochina (Nikola Vukcevic 70′), José Luis Morales (Borja Mayoral 70′), Roger Martí
Unused Substitutes: Oier Olazábal, Sergio León, Toño, Hernâni
VALENCIA CF
Jasper Cillesen (Jaume Doménech 27′), Jaume Costa, Gabriel Paulista, Ezequiel Garay, Daniel Wass, Francis Coquelin (Mouctar Diakhaby 84′), Dani Parej, Carlos Soler, Ferrán Torres, Rodrigo Moreno, Kevin Gameiro (Maxi Gómez 79′)
Unused Substitutes: Thierry Correia, José Gayà, Vicente Esquerdo, Manu Vallejo
STADIUM: Ciutat de Valencia (22,265)