What a miserable performance from the team as a whole and a miserable match for Valencia CF. The team got a taste of its own medicine with 3 goals scored, but for the opposing team. Valencia CF were notorious for scoring three goals from few chances and today that got reversed on them as Deportivo pretty much scored three goals from like 5-6 chances at most.
The defense was in shambles from the first moment on, it was one of those matches where it felt uneasy from start when Deportivo were attacking and it looked like Valencia CF could break any moment. Unfortunately that turned out to be true, the first goal you can say Deportivo were kind of lucky, but the goalkeeper did not do enough, he kind of sat there on the line without coming forward to claim or punch the ball away, Mustafi was too out of position there and all could have been avoided though if the team didn't lose possession so easily as well. There were less than 2-3 passes and the team would lose possession, that is too weak, that is low level tier club possession levels.
The second goal for Deportivo came from a similar situation, Valencia CF kind of losing possession, the team is not fully positioned, Mustafi is out-jumped and the ball is headed forward to a Deportivo player, Barragan is slow to close the gap, Yoel is badly positioned and bam they score a second goal. Completely avoidable goal, but it seemed as nothing is going Valencia's way.
Nuno did two changes at half time with Feghouli and Gil in and some of the weaker performers out and it did help, Valencia CF looked more concise and more dangerous in attack, the team had more possession, but there was no final ball, no concise chance. Moreno had a good enough chance on a pass from Gil, but he shot wide, Paco failed to latch onto two passes, one from Moreno and one from the center in midfield, so that could be counted as two missed opportunities, but nothing really concise.
We even saw Gaya really doing great offensively in the second half, but it just wasn't enough against a defensively solid Deportivo side. The key to this game was not to concede and then compete on who scores one goal, but Valencia CF conceded twice, in the first half, due to terrible defending and the match was pretty much lose right then.
Towards the end Deportivo made it 3-0 for good measure and put the match to bed. This is a devastating loss for Valencia CF and not just the fact that we lost a good opportunity to be in second spot on the table with 20 points, but because of the way the team lost. It was a rather poor performance, the usually reliable defense was really poor and the team had no ideas going forward, while the midfield kept losing the ball time and time again.
I just hope Peter Lim takes over as soon as possible and then we will see reinforcements in the midfield, whether its Enzo Perez or someone else, it will be good for competition in the team and will give us more options as well.
Also having Alvaro Negredo fully fit and ready could really help in situations like this where his direct running and experience can really benefit the team.
Technical Details:
Deportivo de La Coruna: Fabricio; Juanfran, Insua, Sidnei, Luisinho; Cuenca (José Rodríguez, m.78), Wilk, Medunjanin, Fariña; Cavaleiro (Toché, m.63) Lucas Pérez (Juan Carlos, m.57).
Valencia CF: Yoel; Barragán, Mustafi, Otamendi, Gayá; Javi Fuego (De Paul, m.76); Rodrigo, Augusto (Feghouli, m.46), Parejo, Piatti (Carles Gil, m.46); Alcácer.
Player Ratings:
Yoel 3 - Terrible debut for the highly rated goalkeeper. Didn't move out of his line on the cross for the first goal and was badly positioned for the second goal. Will be very disappointed with his performance once he watches in back.
Barragan 4 - Beaten a lot of times from his side and was always one step slower it seems. Was lucky enough that his mistakes didn't result in goals.
Mustafi 2- Terrible performance from the German international. Had so many mistakes I can't even count it. I've said time and time again how I prefer Vezo and I think this match proves why. Partially at fault for both goals and had more mistakes as well.
Otamendi 7 - Had a solid match and had to work twice as hard to cover for the mistakes his partner Mustafi did. Did well though and had several blocks and interceptions. Can't do it all by himself though.
Gaya 7 - Had a decent defensive showing, beaten once or twice by Juanfran, but overall did good and was released offensively in the second half when Gil came in and provided several good crosses and passes.
Fuego 6 - Had several important blocks in the mid to stop Deportivo advancing and was solid with his marking. Did everything right, but that wasn't enough to prevent his team conceding three goals.
Parejo 5 - Really poor performance, too wasteful in possession, his movement was very casual and he didn't have much options, but should have taken the huge load on his shoulders and helped the team, he just failed. As a captain and a regular starter he needs to do a lot more.
Felipe 4 - Terrible performance from the midfielder, committed so many terrible fouls and any one of those could have been yellow cards. If it was another referee he would have definitely been red carded.
Moreno 6 - Was the only forward to even get the ball more than once in the first half and was the most dangerous man throughout the match.
Paco 5 - One of his weakest matches for Valencia CF, didn't have much service at all, but could have dropped back and try to get the ball and help out the team.
Piatti 4 - Was completely irrelevant and all of his runs just ended up giving the ball away to Deportivo. Really needs to become more consistent and to work better with the midfield and Gaya.
Subs:
Carles Gil 6 - Was a lot better than Piatti, provided a genuine threat down the left flank and provided some good passes and crosses, unfortunate to not have created a goal.
Feghouli 6 - Definitely a positive change on the match, his runs from the left were always dangerous and provided some more sturdiness to the team, but couldn't materialize his good performance with goals or assists.
De Paul N/A - Not enough time
Man of the Match: None
Flop of the Match: Skhodran Mustafi
Best offense: Rodrigo Moreno
Worst offense: Pablo Piatti
Best defense: Nicolas Otamendi
Worst defense: Skhodran Mutafi
Best possession: Carles Gil
Worst possession: Felipe Augusto
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