Madrid: Real Madrid suffered a surprise 1-2 defeat at struggling Valencia Wednesday as they missed the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of La Liga after losing for only the second time in the league this season.
Simone Zaza, who endured an unhappy loan spell at West Ham United earlier this season, gave Valencia the lead in the fifth minute with a brilliant shot on the turn and Fabian Orellana added the second in the ninth.
Cristiano Ronaldo headed Real back into contention just before half time, but the visitors were unable to build on their momentum after the break. Real Madrid remained top on 52 points, one ahead of Barcelona and three clear of Sevilla in third, and still have one game in hand on both of their title rivals.
“The truth is we lost the game in 10 minutes. We started well with the ball, we had chances but we made two errors and they scored two goals. We had 80 minutes to rescue the game and tried but we lacked many things today (Wednesday),” Real coach Zinedine Zidane told reporters.
Madrid’s match at Valencia was rearranged after the original fixture was postponed in December due to Zidane’s side taking part in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Valencia have endured a nightmare season filled with dismal results and upheaval off the pitch, but they got off to a flying start when a long pass from goalkeeper Diego Alves found its way to Zaza, who swivelled and fired the ball into the far top corner. Zaza, who joined Valencia in January on loan from Juventus was a constant thorn in Real’s side, linking up superbly with wingers Nani, Orellana and Munir El Haddadi.
Real Madrid responded with a wayward shot from Toni Kroos but left themselves exposed on the break and were soon another goal down as Zaza spread the play to Nani and Orellana darted on to the Portuguese’s pass to knock the ball through keeper Keylor Navas’s legs.
Valencia might have got a third had it not been for a decisive block from Marcelo on Munir’s shot, and the Brazilian played a crucial role in giving Real Madrid a foothold in the game, sending an arcing cross into the box which Ronaldo leapt to head past Alves.
Reuters
