Valencia vs Barcelona. Spanish La Liga.
MestallaAttendance45,961.
Alba own goal and Maxi Gomez strike leaves door ajar for Real Madrid to go top of La Liga
Saturday 25 January 2020 21:46, UK
Quique Setien suffered his first defeat as Barcelona boss as Valencia secured a 2-0 win at Mestalla to preserve their unbeaten home record in La Liga this season.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen produced a string of top saves to keep Barcelona in the game in the first half, denying Maxi Gomez from the penalty spot after Gerard Pique had brought down Jose Gaya in the area, before tipping another Gomez shot onto the bar.
But Valencia took the game away from them after the break, drawing first blood three minutes into the second half thanks to a Jordi Alba own goal, before Gomez made the points safe 13 minutes before the end.
Barcelona remain top of the table but could be overtaken when second-placed Real Madrid take on Valladolid on Sunday.
The visitors started the game on the front foot, enjoying more than 90 per cent possession in the early stages.
But despite Barca's dominance, it was Valencia who found themselves with a great chance to break the deadlock when Pique was adjudged to have fouled Gaya in the box in the 10th minute.
Goalkeeper Ter Stegen came to the league leaders' rescue, though, producing a stunning save to keep out Gomez's well-struck spot-kick.
Valencia grew into the game in the minutes that followed and a dangerous cross almost caught Barca out - but Ter Stegen did well to prevent Pique from turning the ball beyond him.
After Lionel Messi had sent a free-kick over the bar from around 25 yards in the 28th minute, Ter Stegen made a fine double save at the other end to keep the game goalless - tipping a fierce Gomez effort onto the bar before clawing the ball to safety.
Francis Coquelin tested the Germany international again in the 31st minute but he was equal to his strike from range.
Five minutes later Messi struck a free-kick straight at Jaume Domenech as another chance came to nothing.
Shortly after Barcelona's Ansu Fati had shot narrowly wide, Valencia opened the scoring in the 48th minute when Gomez's effort took a deflection off Alba and landed in the back of Barca's net.
Messi had a good opportunity to level things up for Barca just before the hour mark but he flashed his shot across goal and narrowly wide.
The Argentina forward chipped the ball towards goal from the left side of the box in the 68th minute and watched on as it landed on top of the net, before forcing the home keeper to parry his 20-yard free-kick five minutes later.
But Valencia doubled their advantage in the 77th minute, with Gomez sweeping home after a quick break.
The home side thought they had made it 3-0 nine minutes before the end when Gabriel Paulista volleyed home from a corner but his effort was ruled out for a foul. Messi was denied again late on as Valencia secured a valuable home win.
Leaders RB Leipzig slumped to a shock 2-0 defeat by mid-table Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, ending a 13-match unbeaten run in all competitions despite dominating the match.
Leipzig, whose last defeat was by Freiburg on October 26, had 67 per cent of possession and 22 shots to Frankfurt's seven but still failed to score in a Bundesliga match for the first time this season.
Almamy Toure put hosts Frankfurt ahead three minutes after the break with a stunning strike from the edge of the penalty area and Filip Kostic sealed the win in stoppage time.
Leipzig, who have 40 points from 19 games, initially had their lead cut to two points by Borussia Moenchengladbach, who came from behind to beat Mainz 05 3-1, but Bayern Munich now take up second place after their 5-0 win over Schalke.
Bayern are now a point behind Leipzig, thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara and Serge Gnabry.
Moenchengladbach fell behind at home to a 12th-minute Robin Quaison goal but the Foals turned the game around with two goals from Alassane Plea before Florian Neuhaus added a third to win 3-1.
Seventh-placed Freiburg went down to a shock 2-0 home defeat by relegation-threatened Paderborn, who played the last half hour with 10 men after Jamilu Collins was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Paderborn took the lead after the restart when they won possession in midfield and released Christopher Antwi-Adjei who outpaced his marker to score. Abdelhamid Sabiri wrapped up the win at the Black Forest Stadium with a penalty six minutes from time.
Jordan Torunarigha and Dodi Lukebakio scored in the last 15 minutes to give Hertha Berlin a 2-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg, who had taken the lead through Admir Mehmedi in the 68th minute.
Their neighbours Union Berlin also won, beating Augsburg 2-0 with second-half goals from Neven Subotic and Marcus Ingvartsen.
Marseille's remote chances of challenging Paris St Germain for the Ligue 1 title took a knock on Saturday when they were held to a goalless draw at home by Angers.
The result left the Provence side in second place with 42 points from 21 games, seven behind PSG who travel to Lille on Sunday.
Marseille, who had won eight of their last nine league games and were on a six-game winning streak at the Stade Velodrome, never found their way around a tight Angers defence.
Angers, who have only scored seven goals away from home this season, are seventh on 30 points.
No shots were taken in the opening 20 minutes - a first in Ligue 1 this season - but Angers had a clear chance in the 21st when Sada Thioub's curled shot went just wide.
Marseille dominated possession but were toothless up front as the absence of the injured Dimitri Payet was clearly felt.
Elsewhere, Montpellier moved into fourth with a 2-1 win over Dijon, Metz kept up their recent rise away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Stade Reims, Strasbourg won 3-1 at Monaco, Saint-Etienne picked up their first league win since November 3 with a 2-1 triumph over Nimes, and Brest beat Amiens SC 2-1.
