Valencia vs Barcelona: Gomez scores brace as Los Ches win by 2-0
Valencia vs Barcelona ended 2-0 in favour of Los Ches as Quique Setien suffered first defeat of the season.
Maxi Gomez bagged a second half brace to condemn La Blaugrana to their fourth defeat in La Liga.
The home side were far the better team in the first half as La Blaugrana barely had a shot on target that troubled the goalkeeper.
Maxi Gomez had his penalty saved by Marc Andre Ter Stegen after Gerard Pique fouled Jesus Gil Manzano and was booked in the process.
The German shot-stopper later made two saves in quick succession from Gomez and Kevin Gameiro as the score remain 0-0.
French midfielder Francis Coquelin also had his effort from range save by Ter Stegen as the Barca number one continued to frustrate Valencia.
Lionel Messi's free kick before half time went straight into the hands of Jaume Domenech as both teams went into the break without a goal.
Barcelona started the second period the livelier side as Messi put teenager Ansu Fati through in the opening seconds of the half but his shot went wide.
At the other end, Gomez made amends from his missed penalty as his shot took a heavy deflection off Jordi Alba to put his side 1-0 ahead in the 48th minute.
The Spanish champions took up the challenge as Messi had two chances within the space of two minutes as Gabriel Paulista made an important block for the first while the ball went agonizingly wide in the second.
Messi's 73rd minute free kick was acrobatically saved by Domenech as Barca pushed further fro an equalizer.
Valencia put the game beyond reach for Barcelona after a lovely piece of skill from Carlos Soler left space for Gomez who made no mistake with the finish to make 2-0 in the 76th minute.
Paulista thought he has made it 3-0 after he slid in to make decent contact with the ball but after recommendation from the VAR the corner kick had to be retaken.
The match ended 2-0 as Barcelona dropped three points but are still on top of the table level on points with Real Madrid who have a game at hand.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported thatPablo Mari has arrived London for a medical with Premier League giants Arsenal, reports claim.
The Gunners Technical Director Edu was seen at Galeao Airport in Rio de Janeiro with the Flamengo center-back in a tweet shared on social media.
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Source: Legit.ng
