This was the presentation match played in Valencia in the Mestalla in front of the home crowd and basically a must win match for Valencia CF. The team did not disapoint and disposed AS Roma by 3 goals to zero.
The first ten minutes of the match both sides were fighting for possession with Roma having more of the possession, but Valencia being more dangerous from the flanks. Pablo especially was cousing the Romans some trouble down the right flank.
On the other side though Alba would send a cross that barely missed Piatti on the far post in the 14th minute of the match and Bernat and Alba would link up well, but fail to create a scoring opportunity. Soldado would take things into his own legs and steal a ball from the Roma defender and then passed it to Pablo Hernandez, who then passed the ball towards the incoming Piatti, but it would be Roma's defender Federico Viviani that would score an own goal after a confusion between Piatti, Viviani and Roma goalkeeper.
From there on Valencia would threaten quite a lot and there were several half chances on both flanks. Pablo would once again be in the midst of the proceedings in the 29th minute as he surged down the right flank and passed the ball to the lone Piatti, but Piatti shot at the goalkeeper.
Then after a Roma attack failed, Dealbert would pass the ball to Piatti and this one sprinted forward, came in a clearing and passed the ball towards Soldado and he would make it 2-0 for Valencia CF.
From there on the chances for Valencia would keep coming, with Soldado stealing the ball from a Roma defender once more, but ultimately the first half would finish 2-0.
Second half started with Roma putting more pressure the first ten minutes and seemed as they would make a comeback which culminated in Bojan hitting the bar in the 54th minute, but Piatti, Bernat and Pablo would make a stop to that with their constant runs from the flanks and put Roma on the defensive.
Valencia then had the following 12 minutes of play with dangerous plays from Piatti, Pablo, Soldado and Bernat when the substitutions started happening in the 63rd minute and the tempo of the game changed.
The substitutions would do good with Banega, Mathieu and Mata combining well on the left wing and creating an opportunity, then Mata would have a free run, but only to lob the ball over Roma defense, but also over Jonas.
The Paco Alcacer would come on for Soldado and almost immediately score a goal after Jonas played a good through ball to Mathieu and this one provided the cross to Paco.
Ultimatelly it was a great match from Valencia CF in which we really saw the attacking powers of our team, even though the defense is still probably our weakest link.
Technical details:
Valencia CF (3): Alves, Bruno, Rami, Dealbert, Alba; Albelda, Tino Costa, Pablo, Bernat, Piatti y Soldado. También jugaron Banega, Parejo, Topal, Jonas, Mata, Mathieu, Miguel, Maduro, Ricardo Costa, Alcácer.
AS Roma (0): Lobont, Rossi, Burdisso, Heinze, Jose Ángel; Viviani, Pizarro, Perrotta; Borriello, Bojan y Totti. También jugaron Verre, De Cesare, Cassetti, Stekelenburg, Taddei, Antei, Caprari, Okaka, Simplicio.
Goals: 1-0, m.20: Viviani (o.g); 2-0, m.36 Soldado; 3-0, m.83 Alcácer.
Player Ratings:
Diego 6 - Good performance by Diego, wasn't tested too much, but dealt with what came towards him well.
Bruno 5.5 - Wasn't too much troubled at the back and went forward quite enough to support Pablo.
Rami 6 - Destroys the opposition play before they begin an action and dealt well with who he marked.
Dealbert 6 - Had a bit of a mistake early on and then gave away a ball needlessly, but also marshaled the penalty area with conviction.
Alba 6 - Involved in a lot of the actions forward and did well defensively as well.
Albelda 5.5 - Covered well for the defense, but other than that was pretty much inactive.
Tino Costa 6 - Wasn't very influential at all, had a few good runs and passes, but didn't contribute much in attack, but did well defensively.
Pablo 7.5 - Great game from Pablo with an early shot, some great passes and crosses and was dangerous throughout the match.
Piatti 8.5 - Man of the match performance from Piatti. Run tirelesly all night, provided numerous passes and crosses in the penalty area, found himself in dangerous positions all the time, provided an assist and forced an own goal from a Roma defender.
Bernat 7 - Each week he gets better and better and with his pace and agility caused problems for Roma all match long. Linked up well with Piatti and Alba.
Soldado 7.5 - Great performance, stole two balls from the defenders, one lead to the first goal, the second one not so much, but was very involved and active in the game, some great movement and link up play with Piatti and Pablo.
Subs:
Parejo 5.5 - Had an amazing pass towards Bernat I think and with what time he got was pretty good overall.
Topal 5.5 - Made few clean tackles and won the ball back, did well in what time he got.
Banega 5.5 Wasn't as impressive as the last match, had 2 or 3 silly passes, but also did well on the left when he provided cover for Mathieu and Mata.
Mathieu 6.5 - Great match by Mathieu, provided an assist and defended great on his side.
Miguel 5 - Had little time to do anything right or wrong.
Jonas 5.5 - Provided a great pass to Mathieu that lead to the 3rd goal. Otherwise decent in the time he had.
Mata 5.5 - Decent performance by VCF most valued player, had few passes and crosses, but did not have enough time to do much.
Maduro 5 - Not enough time
Costa 5 - Not enough time
Paco 6 - Came in and scored a goal within few minutes. Great start for Paco.
