Valencia CF with a convincing win over a combative and really solid Real Valladolid team. If you'd ask me in the first 30 minutes of the match if Valencia CF would win, I would have doubt it and even a draw would have been fine with me, but two solid goals from Gomez changed the whole game. Its been at least 3 months I think since Maxi Gomez last scored a goal and in this match he scored two and from two. He had two chances and scored from both, amazing performance, where was this guy the whole season?
I didn't expect too many changes from Voro, but I was surprised by the changes. It wasn't numerically many changes, but the concept was different. He started with 3 central defenders, 5 players in midfield with Correia and Gaya also serving as defenders when Real Valladolid attacked, but serving as wingers when Valencia CF was in attack. Wass and Soler completed the midfield with a forward 3 of Kang-In Lee on the right flank, Guedes on the left and Gomez in a central forward position.
Real Valladolid started well, better than Valencia and had few quick chances. Valencia CF would counter and mount few chances of their own, but noting would come out of them. The match sort of slowed down a bit from the 25th minute, with Real Valladolid having control of the ball and trying to create something, but all of their efforts were stopped and they did not have any serious chances.
Just before half time hell would freeze over and Maxi Gomez would score a goal. Good combination between Guedes and Gaya, Gaya pushes the ball forward, passes and it finds Gomez who slots the ball into the net.
Just as soon as the second half started Valencia CF would find a second goal, once again Maxi Gomez the scorer. This time Soler intercepts a loose ball, goes forward, provides a solid chipped pass to Maxi who is once again precise with his shot and beats the goalkeeper.
After some time of back and forth between the teams, Valladolid would take control of the match and push forward for a goal. They started attacking with numbers and Valencia CF had to drop down and defend with numbers.
Gaya in the meantime would miss a solid chance, after a quick one two with Guedes, but his shot is way off base and its a wasted chance.
Finally after so much attacking by Real Valladolid, Valencia CF went into attack and after a bit of circle passing back and forth, Oliva with a through pass to Cheryshev who's cross finds Correia who heads the ball into the net to put this match to bed.
Voro found the right tactics and system for this match and a solution to some of our defensive weaknesses, 3 central defenders who sat back deep with two supporting wide defenders in Gaya and Correia and using their speed to quickly go from attack to defense and vice versa.
This sacrificed a bit of control in midfield, Real Valladolid controlled the ball for long stretches, but with good defending the team was able to withstand the attacks and hot Valladolid on the counter.
First Half:
1: Match begins, two surprises in the starting lineup, Diakhaby starts in a 3 man back line and Kang-In Lee starts as well
7: Two consecutive shots by Valladolid, Cillessen with 2 good interventions
8: Counter attack for VCF, Kang-In to Gaya, but this ones cross only goes to the keeper
13: Guedes with a good solo run, tries a shot at goal, but his effort is blocked and only manages a corner kick
19: Good chance for Valladolid, Michels shot gets blocked though
22: Chance for Valencia CF, but is fumbled by Guedes
26: Valencia CF needs to step up, this level of play won't have us win the game, probably not even manage a draw like this
44: Shot from Guedes, but referee awards Valladolid a foul
45: GOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!! Maxi Gomez with a goal! Hell has frozen over! Guedes with a through ball to Gaya, this one pushes slightly forward and provides a pass into the penalty area, Wass thankfully fails to hit the ball as he was probably offside, the ball goes to Maxi Gomez who taps the ball into the net
Second Half:
47: GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLLL!!! Maxi Gomez with a second goal, hell has indeed frozen over! Carlos Soler intercepts a missed pass, goes forward and send a perfect pass to Maxi who is able to send the ball into the net
57: Much better play from Valencia CF in the second half, already one more goal and quite a bit of an attacking football
62: Real Valladolid with some strong attacking football in front of VCF goal, Marcos with a shot, but his shot is deflected by a Valladolid player
64: Valladolid with some good football in the past dozen minutes.
65: Voro with the first change, needs to freshen up the team and improve the midfield, so he brings in Racic for Lee
66: Gaya to Guedes, Guedes to Gaya, Gaya finds himself alone on goal, but his shot is very poor and goes wide
67: Soler with a beautiful pass to Guedes, Guedes runs into the penalty area, passes one player, tries to pass to Soler, but Valladolid defense clears the ball. Should have just shot, missed opportunity here
88: GOOOOOAAALLLL! Correia with a powerful header to put Valencia CF 3 goals up. Good action on the left side, Olive puts it into space for cheryshev, he goes forward, crosses and finds Correia who heads the ball into the net
Player Ratings:
Cillessen 7 - Two good saves early on in the first half, had few more interception as well, but overall was not threatened too much.
Paulista 6 - Solid performance in what was a very secure display.
Hugo 6 - Functioned really well in a center 3 defense and did not make any significant mistakes
Diakhaby 6 - Surprised to see him play, but this time he was in a center three defense and did good
Correia 7.5 - Solid performance all round, capped it off with a well taken goal
Wass 5.5 - Good defensive work, but was offline for long parts of the match and would have wanted to do better in controlling the midfield
Soler 7 - While him and Wass did not have too much control of the midfield, he was very dangerous when in more forward positions, providing few very dangerous passes, one of which resulted in a goal
Gaya 7 - Similar to Correia's performance, went back and forth all the time, but never found himself out of position, worked very well with Guedes and provided the first goal
Kang-In Lee 5.5 - Was very active on the field and was eager to try things and create chances, but was missing that final pass, which made him a bit wasteful in possession. Will be pleased with this performance especially as he hasn't started in such a long time
Guedes 6.5 - No assist or goal this time around, though he was still very dangerous in attack and did have several key passes that led to good chances. Will be somewhat disappointed he didn't score, as he had a solid chance himself, but decided to pass rather than shoot and it was the wrong decision.
Maxi Gomez 7 - How did he score two goals from two chances in a single game, when he's barely scored a goal the whole season from so many chances? Thing is these weren't even crosses, just positional chances which he converted.
Subs:
Racic 5.5 - Brought in to freshen up the midfield and help in defense and that is what he did.
Gameiro 5 - Had a good claim on a foul, but was not given for him.
Cheryshev 6 - Provided an assist in the relatively short time he was on and will be pleased with that.
Oliva N/A
Jason N/A