Valencia and Villarreal have kicked off this weekend’s La Liga action with crucial Friday night wins.
Victory for Valencia at home to Las Palmas backs up a win from the opening weekend as Los Che look to build momentum in the first weeks of the new campaign.
Villarreal bounced back from defeat in their own opening game as Gerard Moreno’s second half goal secured a 1-0 win away at Mallorca.
The Yellow Submarine struggled for fluency in Palma in the opening stages as Alex Baena was denied before the break.
However, with chances at premium, Moreno showed his reliability in front of goal late on, to scramble home from close range, as Mallorca failed to clear their lines.
HIGHLIGHTS: #RCDMallorcaVillarreal 0-1@VillarrealCFen get their first win of the season thanks to a @GerardMoreno9 winner! 💛#LALIGAEASPORTS | #LALIGAHighlights pic.twitter.com/QybSP9kaLg
— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) August 18, 2023
Both sides flew forward in the final minutes as Mallorca goal keeper Predrag Rajkovic made two vital stops to keep the final score at 1-0.
In the other Friday game, Valencia were forced to hang on at the Estadio Mestalla, to pick up all three points against their Canarian visitors.
The home side carved out the better chances either side of the half time break but a stubborn Las Palmas held firm in defence on the Spanish east coast.
Valencia appeared to lose some of their zip in the second period but they were handed a golden chance after a controversial VAR call for handball.
Pepelu stepped up to convert from the penalty spot, for his first club goal since joining this summer, and put Valencia on course for successive wins.
Straight down the middle! 🎯
Valencia lead against Las Palmas thanks to Pepelu's converted penalty 🦇 pic.twitter.com/kzKGvVakLB
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) August 18, 2023
Valencia were forced to ride out 12 minutes of injury time as the clock ticked towards midnight local time with the sense of relief palpable as the final whistle blew.
Three points in this tie means Valencia have won their opening two games of a La Liga season for the first time since 2011/12.
Images via Getty Images
