Las Palmas 2 - 1 Valencia: Valencia's woes continue after defeat to Las Palmas

Posted Sunday, April 03, 2016 by PA

Valencia's miserable run of results continued as Gary Neville's former side suffered a 2-1 defeat at Las Palmas.

Pako Ayestaran, the new coach after Neville was sacked on Wednesday, got off to a dream start when Rodrigo Moreno gave the struggling visitors the lead with less than three minutes gone after a gift from Las Palmas goalkeeper Javi Varas.

The hosts responded by outplaying Valencia and levelled early in the second half through Jonathan Viera's penalty, while Shkrodan Mustafi put through his own net on 63 minutes.

The result condemned Los Che to a fourth consecutive league defeat which leaves them 15th in the Primera Division table and six points above the relegation zone.

Las Palmas, meanwhile, move eight points above the bottom three after a fifth win in six matches.

Ayestaran was unveiled as Valencia's new coach in midweek after Neville was relieved of his duties just four months after taking charge, winning just three of 16 league matches.

He left assistant coach Phil Neville back in Valencia and brought his own coaching team to Las Palmas.

His reign could hardly have started better, Rodrigo pouncing on Varas' hurried pass to score.

But Las Palmas showed their recent run of form has been no fluke by dominating possession after conceding and creating a flurry of chances before the break.

They finally equalised when Javi Fuego was penalised for tugging Tana's shirt in the box, and Viera slotted in his seventh goal of the season.

Las Palmas continued to create chances and it took a series of fine saves from Diego Alves to preserve Valencia's lead, but the Brazilian was powerless to stop the winner, Aderlan Santos's attempted clearance ricocheting off Mustafi and bouncing in.