New arrival Orellana leads Valencia to win over Bilbao

The playmaking of new arrival Fabian Orellana inspired Valencia to a much-needed 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league yesterday.

Orellana's precise pass through Bilbao's backline set up Nani for Valencia's opener in the 13th minute at Mestalla Stadium.

Orellana, who joined from Celta Vigo last month, combined with Munir El Haddadi in a brilliant buildup that ended with fellow winter transfer signing Simone Zaza doubling the lead in the 45th.

Bilbao was left with 10 men from the 56th minute when substitute Aritz Aduriz was injured three minutes after coming on. Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde was unable to replace him because he had made all three substitutions.

"It was a great pass by Orellana," Nani said. "The team left a good impression today. As we have been saying, we are working hard to improve and this match is proof that we haven't given up."

Yesterday Real Sociedad-Villarreal .................. 0-1 Valencia-Ath Bilbao ......................... 2-0 Celta Vigo-Osasuna ......................... 3-0 Barcelona-Leganes .......................... 2-1

Standings

Real Madrid 21 16 Barcelona 23 15 Sevilla 23 15 Atl. Madrid 23 13 Real Sociedad 23 13 Villarreal 23 10 Eibar 23 10 Ath Bilbao 23 10 Celta Vigo 22 10 Espanyol 23 8 Alaves 23 7 Las Palmas 22 7 Betis 22 6 Malaga 22 5 Valencia 22 6 Dep. La Coruna22 4 Leganes 23 4 Gijon 23 4 Granada CF 23 3 Osasuna 23 1 4 1 56 18 52 6 2 63 19 51 4 4 46 28 49 6 4 43 19 45 2 8 36 32 41 9 4 30 15 39 5 8 36 31 35 5 8 28 28 35 3 9 36 36 33 8 7 30 31 32 9 7 22 28 30 7 8 31 33 28 6 10 22 35 24 8 9 29 36 23 5 11 31 40 23 7 11 26 35 19 6 13 16 39 18 4 15 25 47 16 7 13 21 49 16 7 15 24 52 10

Valencia's first win in four rounds comes three days before hosting leader Real Madrid. Their match was originally scheduled for December but had to be pushed back due to Madrid's participation in the Club World Cup.