Valencia CF first 2021/22 season match started with a hard fought win over Jose Bordalas former team in what was an eventful and intense match. Right off the bat the match turned bad for Valencia CF as Hugo Guilamon was shown a red card for a high leg collision with Maksimovic after VAR reviewed the incident. Truth be told it was not a straight red card for me, both players had their leg up, both lunged towards the ball and both sort of hit each other with the leg, Hugo actually lifted his leg second after Maksimovic and therefore it was higher at the point of impact, making it look worse, but it was no worse than what Maksimovic did.
Terrible call from VAR, why is it even used to judge cases like this? Isn't it supposed to be for extremely questionable things like hair splitting goal line calls and hair splitting offside calls, not for fouls or stopped play.
Anyways this did not prevent Valencia CF from launching counter attacks and on one occasion Cheryshev got the ball wide on the left flank, moved inwards towards the penalty area, he had two Getafe defenders on him and when he reached the penalty area he was fouled and a penalty was awarded to Valencia CF.
Soler stepped to take the penalty, backed away a short distance from the ball, engaged in a slow run towards the ball and placed a low right sides shot towards the goal, with the Getafe CF goalkeeper misjudging the direction Soler would shoot and lunging at the wrong side. Soler scores and Valencia CF get a lead on Getafe CF in what was otherwise a bad situation for the team.
Few shots on both sides in the first half, with both goalkeepers aware and reacting well to shots, preventing any goals for their sides. Valencia CF ultimately settled on defending as they were trying to keep their small lead with one man down, while Getafe CF went on the attack and tried to penetrate Valencia's defense.
In the second half more of the same play as the first, Valencia CF mostly defending and hitting back at the counter, with Getafe CF trying to score one back and trying with crosses and long range efforts. Ultimately the game would level as Getafe player Cabaco was show a second yellow card and automatic red at that point for a foul in the 75th minute, but it didn't change the flow of the game that much with Getafe CF still being dominant in attack and Valencia CF trying to defend their attacks and just reach the final minute without conceding a goal.
Getafe CF had several strong opportunities in the final moments of the match with several very dangerous shots that were luckily stopped by Giorgi, particularly the one in the 92nd minute where Giorgi just barely got his hand to a bouncing ball, fell short to incoming Getafe players, but Alderete was the quickest to react and cleared the ball to safety!
So not a terrible game from Valencia CF, the team defended well with one man down and was able to keep its lead till the very end. I think both Valencia CF and Getafe CF could have scored more goals, but both teams goalkeepers were at a high level tonight and prevented more goals.
I think the team will be pleased with this result and should serve as a jumping board for something even better. Now I'm curious how this team will do in attack, especially against smaller and weaker teams that tend to defend tightly and hit on the counter attack.