Valencia maintain Barcelona chase with 8th straight win

Madrid, Nov. 20: Valencia maintained their pursuit of Barcelona to remain four points off the La Liga leaders thanks to secondhalf goals from Geoffrey Kondogbia and Santi Mina to beat a luckless Espanyol 2- 0 on Sunday.

A club record eighth straight La Liga win for Valencia moves Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men six points clear of Real Madrid in third and sets up a mouthwatering top of the table showdown at home to Barcelona next Sunday.

“We Barcelona to be as high in the table as we can, but we still can’t talk about being candidates to win the title yet,” insisted Valencia assistant coach Ruben Uria, who faced the media after Marcelino was sent to the stands in the second half.

However, the visitors had fortune on their side as Espanyol dominated for large spells and hit the woodwork twice.

“In the first half they got the better of us, but the team knew how to resist, stay compact, suffer and compete,” Mina told BeIN Sports Spain.

“The big teams also win like this. The important thing was to win,” he added.

Marcelino surprisingly left Simone Zaza and onloan Paris Saint- Germain forward Goncalo Guedes on the bench and that decision nearly backfired as Valencia struggled to gain a foothold in the first hour.

Gerard Moreno and Sergi Darder both struck the post for the hosts in a six- minute spell just before half- time. AFP Canal+.

“The point is very important, we open up a gap over them. That’s a point that will count at the end ( of the season),” he added.

De Preville got the hosts off to a flying start as he nipped in to beat Sanson to the ball in midfield, before racing clear and curling an unstoppable finish in off the far post to score his first goal for the club.

Dimitri Payet looked lively and had a shot blocked, but Bordeaux could have moved further clear when Younousse Sankhare fired inches over the bar.

However, the away side were slightly improved after the half- time.