Justin Kluivert on Friday scored his first goal for Valencia to help Gennaro Gattuso’s side win 2-1 against CA Osasuna, who finished the testy La Liga match with nine men.
Kluivert, a forward, was making his first start in his fourth appearance since joining Valencia from AS Roma on loan. He made a nice run behind the defense, took a through ball from Edinson Cavani and chipped the goalkeeper to score in the 28th minute.
Kluivert is the son of former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, who scored two goals in his brief stint with Valencia in 2005-2006.
Photo: Reuters
When told that his father scored for Valencia 16 years before, Justin Kluivert replied: “Madre mia. That’s a long time.”
“These three points are extra important for us, because they come against a good team like Osasuna,” he said after his team’s first win on the road since Gattuso took over this summer.
Mouctar Diakhaby scrambled in a second goal for the visitors after Osasuna failed to clear a ball from a corner kick in the 54th minute.
Osasuna played the final 20 minutes a man down after Unai Garcia saw a direct red card for taking down Samuel Lino with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Edinson, who has yet to score since joining Valencia, hit the crossbar with the resulting penalty.
Darko Brasanac got Osasuna’s in stoppage-time.
Osasuna also lost Ruben Pena when he received a direct red for kicking a prone Duro with play stopped.
Diakhaby also received a second yellow card, apparently for using inappropriate language toward the referee, while he was on the bench after being substituted.
Gattuso kicked a cooler while glaring at his defender, who will be suspended for their next game.
“We have to remain calm and a player on the bench has to respect the decisions of the referee,” Gattuso said of Diakhaby.
? PREMIER LEAGUE
Reuters, MANCHESTER, England
Manchester City manager and restaurant owner Pep Guardiola on Friday joked that he would drop Ilkay Gundogan for the rest of the season after the midfielder’s wife complained there were no good places to eat in the city.
The player’s Italian wife, Sara Arfaoui, made headlines in England after writing on Instagram that she had failed to find a good restaurant in Manchester and there was “horrible food everywhere.”
The comments made the front page of the Sun tabloid newspaper, while the local Manchester Evening News reported outrage among restaurateurs, with some questioning where she had been.
Guardiola, who owns a tapas restaurant in the city, was asked for a reaction at a news conference ahead of Premier League champions City’s home match against Southampton yesterday, which was to begin after press time last night.
“I am disappointed they still didn’t try my restaurant [Tast]. That is annoying me. Gundo is not going to play one more minute for the rest of the season,” he said with a laugh. “I’m going to invite her and Gundo as well to go to Tast. Of course they are going to eat properly.”
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