Late Zigic winner pushes Valencia up to third

January 3, 2010 · 3 Comments

Nikola Zigic was the hero as Valencia snatched a last-gasp 1-0 victory over plucky Espanyol in the first Primera Division match of 2010.

Espanyol frustrated the home side for long periods and looked good for a point as the game moved into stoppage time.

But Zigic, a second-half substitute, headed a dramatic late winner to move Los Che provisionally into third place in La Liga and send the visitors back to Barcelona empty-handed despite a spirited display.

The Catalans created several good goalscoring opportunities, although the best chance of the night fell to David Villa, who headed against the post with 15 minutes left.

It looked like it would not be Valencia’s evening when the prolific striker’s effort stayed out, but Zigic’s late intervention kept Unai Emery’s side on track for a place in next season’s Champions League.

Valencia began the day 10 points adrift of league leaders Barcelona in fourth spot.

And, having missed out on Champions League qualification in each of the last two seasons, a place in Europe’s premier club competition is very much the goal for this campaign.

Espanyol’s situation is rather different.

The Barcelona side lack the finances to compete at the top end of the standings and mid-table is generally thought to represent success for the Catalans.

Last season saw Mauricio Pochettino’s men miraculously avoid the drop as they put together an amazing streak of results in the run-in.

But they are back in trouble this term, having lost five games in a row prior to the recent win over fellow strugglers Almeria.

The visitors were carved apart after 14 minutes but, luckily for them, Miguel failed to make proper contact from close range when he should have hit the target.

Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, in his last match before travelling to Angola for the African Nations Cup, then did well to save from Jordi Alba as Valencia threatened once more.

At the other end, Cesar Sanchez saved comfortably from Javi Marquez’s shot as Espanyol created their first chance.

But Valencia looked the more likely and Villa came close seven minutes after the break. He got between two defenders but failed to get sufficient power on his shot, which Kameni saved with relative ease.

Three minutes later, Kameni denied Villa once again, this time keeping out the Spain frontman’s angled drive with his feet.

Espanyol had their moments, too, and the visitors produced the next two dangerous attacks.

Facundo Roncaglia shot just wide and Luis Garcia hesitated with only Cesar to beat and was crowded out by the Valencia defence.

Villa then headed against the post from point-blank range and it looked as if a goal would never come.

Many fans thought the same and a lot had already left by the time Zigic headed the clincher from Joaquin’s cross two minutes into added time.

The win saw Valencia move provisionally into third, although they will drop back to fourth if Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid later tonight.

Espanyol, meanwhile, are still four points clear of the drop zone, but could find themselves closer to the danger area on Sunday, depending on other results.