Deportivo claim three points as Valencia's away hopes falter
Deportivo La Coruña beat Valencia 3-1 at the Riazor in the third round of La Liga on Saturday. The hosts took a slender lead through Cesar Tarrega's own goal in the thirteenth minute, then Aubameyang and Sadiq added before half-time. Valencia's defensive frailties showed again when Diakhaby netted an own goal in the fifty-ninth minute, and Altimira's late red card capped a difficult afternoon for the visitors.
And here's the thing about the opening twenty minutes — the ball dropped for Tarrega inside his own area and he could only turn it towards his net. Aubameyang was next, collecting a loose pass and slotting home at the near post. By then Sadiq had already made his presence felt, and he finished a quick counter in the twenty-sixth minute to put Deportivo in control. Valencia looked rattled, and there was no response before the break.
The second half was a different matter. Valencia came out with more purpose and pressed high, but Diakhaby's misfortune came again in the fifty-ninth minute, this time heading a cross into his own goal. The visitors turned to the kids, bringing on Sato, Rioja and Guerra together in the sixtieth minute, but the damage was done. Altimira's red card in stoppage time ended any lingering hope of a comeback.
The numbers tell a flat story. Deportivo enjoyed 51 per cent possession and created 1.39 expected goals from 8 shots, while Valencia managed 1.05 xG from 5 attempts. Both sides won 21 aerial duels, but the difference was in conversion. The hosts were clinical; the visitors were not. There is no value left at that number for Valencia — three games, one point, and they are staring at the drop.
The result lifts Deportivo to seventh with five points from three matches, a step up from their recent run of draws. Valencia sit eighteenth after three defeats and a draw, and the gap between them and safety is widening. The draw brought them together early, but this was a day when the visitors ran out of legs and the hosts held on grimly.
