Gary Neville remains without a win in La Liga as Valencia boss as Villarreal moved up to fourth thanks to captain Bruno Soriano’s spectacular free-kick in a 1-0 win on Thursday.
Bruno found the top corner from the edge of the box midway through the second half to allow Villarreal to edge two points ahead of RC Celta de Vigo in the battle for the final Champions League place.
However, Valencia’s ambitions of a top-four finish now look forlorn as they lie in 10th place, 11 points behind their local rivals.
Photo: AFP
“We are a significant distance behind, but I am only concentrating on the next match,” Neville told a news conference. “Losing today makes everything more complicated, but we have to focus on getting the best out of the players.”
“I am desperately looking to pick up points, but I am also looking for a good performance,” he said.
“There were good signs against Olympique Lyonnais and [Sociedad Deportiva] Eibar, but today we saw something different as we had a good 45 minutes,” he said.
“This makes me feel better, as we knew how to play in the second half and if we continue that way then it is possible to pick up the points we need. In the second half we played the best football since I arrived,” Neville added.
“We needed to pass the ball better. We were bunched together too much and we should have looked to attack more,” he said. “When you have five at the back you can be too defensive and we were conscious of that but we didn’t do it well.”
Valencia had only managed to draw Neville’s opening two league games in charge against Eibar and Getafe before the 10-day winter break.
The former Manchester United defender took a more defensive approach in a bid to at least preserve his unbeaten record with a five-man defense as Villarreal dominated the first 45 minutes.
Roberto Soldado had the best chance to open the scoring against his old side, but the former Tottenham Hotspur striker failed to connect with Jonathan dos Santos’ inviting cross.
Valencia started the second half much more positively as Alphonse Areola was forced into saves from Andre Gomes and Dani Parejo, while Paco Alcacer blasted over a great chance from close range.
However, the visitors were caught with a sucker punch when Soldado was brought down on the edge of the box and Bruno curled the ball perfectly into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season.
Alcacer wasted another big opportunity when he volleyed over shortly afterward, but Valencia created little in their search for an equalizer and now face the daunting task of hosting Real Madrid tomorrow.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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