Barça, accustomed to solving their matches with routs and heavy scores, won with difficulty and by the minimum in the Mestalla stadium against Valencia, who did a great job of defense and resistance against the champion but ended up without the expected prize.
With 7,900 spectators in the stands, Valencia opened Mestalla for the first time to welcome Barcelona. Two totally different teams faced each other in the centenary stadium. Bottom-placed Valencia has yet to win in League F, while Barcelona, the leader, has won everything. But the Valencians fell with honor.
Against all odds, the first clear chance fell to the Valencians after five minutes. This time it was Gemma’s turn to start and Browne took advantage of a poor start by the goalkeeper to give back to Marina Martí, who sent the ball over the crossbar.
Barcelona had total control of the game, but their possession did not translate into the usual overwhelming superiority in attack, while Valencia managed to reach the Barça area sporadically, but with discretion. Cristian Toro has only been in office for two weeks, but the team looks different.
In the 10th minute it was Yasmin Mrabet who tried, but her shot was easily caught by Gemma. Pere Romeu’s team grew in the game and managed to do damage with balls filtered into the area with Aitana gaining the back of the center backs, but the Valencians remained compact in defense with a line of five.
The American forward Browne once again disturbed the culé area with a powerful shot that grazed the crossbar and, after several warnings from Valencia, she arrived and launched Barça’s first big opportunity. After half an hour of the game, Aitana tried with a shot from the penalty spot that went just past the post and in the last minute of the first half Jana tested Canales, who stretched to take the shot and maintain the tie.
Well organized on the grass of the centenary stadium, Valencia held off Barcelona in the first half and until the 54th minute, when Florentino took a penalty on Vicky and Rolfö converted it into a goal with a tight shot to the right that Canales, despite guessing , couldn’t stop.
After the goal, Pere Romeu brought out stars like Graham Hansen, Ona Batlle and Patri Guijarro and, apparently, the Valencians only had the option of holding on to the result with defensive solidity.
However, Browne and Martí once again had dangerous chances, although they did not worry Font, and the second half was flat, without rhythm and without chances. Barcelona, without much effort and with Graham Hansen’s injury, managed to beat a meritorious Valencia that stood up to the champions.
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