Hugo Duro freed himself from the burden of scoring this Sunday, after only scoring one goal in the League last season, and scored a double at the expense of Atlético de Madrid in Mestalla, where, when Diego Simeone's team was at its best, Javi Guerra He scored the final goal to sink the red and whites and ensure Valencia's victory (2-1).
Rubén Baraja, who spoke before the clash about the need to accept the reality of the club after the message from the president, Layhoon Chan, in which she indicated that the objective is permanence, gave ownership to winger Sergi Canós, one of the few signings of the team, to look for imbalance.
And the bet turned out perfectly for 'Pipo'. Canós scrambled on the left wing against Azpilicueta to cross into the small area, where Hugo Duro caught the ball and sent it to the back of the net five minutes into the game.
Atlético de Madrid were surprised and bothered by Valencia's momentum on the counterattack. For the red and white team, this Sunday dressed in green, a ball that did not reach the forward formed by Morata and Griezmann did not last at all.
From one of the multiple counterattacks by the Valencians came a lateral foul on Fran Pérez that Pepelu took with a low shot and that Oblak rejected awkwardly. Simeone's team tried to respond, without success, with their first two chances of the game: a header from Morata that went wide and a shot from Marcos Llorente that grazed a post.
But Valencia seemed confident and, in the 34th minute, Pepelu recovered the ball in his own half to extend towards Fran Pérez, who ran, exposed Hermoso and assisted Hugo Duro, who escaped from the defense with a good maneuver and beat Oblak for the second time (m.34).
Atlético, weak defensively and missing in attack, was out of the game and, in addition, lost Lemar, who left the pitch on a stretcher in tears with a probable serious Achilles tendon injury, according to the club's medical services.
After the break, 'Cholo' brought on Correa and Molina for Savic and Riquelme to look for the goal and Atlético came out to bite. Mamardashvili intervened for the first time in the duel to avoid a header from Morata and a shot from Correa with two great saves and, when the visitors were at their best, Javi Guerra sank Atlético with a cutback and a great goal (m.54).
With a Mestalla delivered on the day of the return of the cheering stands after serving a sanction for the racist episode with Vinícius, the Valencians had completely dominated the match.
No change by Simeone was effective against a Valencia that still wanted more, but could not increase the victory that breaks a drought of victories against the Madrid team since the 3-1 on October 4, 2014 in the same scenario.
3 – Valencia: Mamardashvili; Thierry (Tárrega, m.83), Diakhaby, Mosquera, Gayà (Cenk, m.70); Javi Guerra, Pepelu, Almeida (Amallah, m.70); Fran Pérez, Canós (Diego López, m.59) and Hugo Duro (Guillamón, m.83).
0 – Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Azpilicueta, Savic (Correa, m.46), Witsel, Hermoso (Saúl, m.62); Llorente, Barrios, Lemar (Galán, m.44), Riquelme (Molina, m.46); Griezmann (Giménez, m.62) and Morata.
Goals: 1-0, m.5: Hugo Duro. 2-0, m.34: Hugo Duro. 3-0, m.54: Javi Guerra
Referee: Gil Manzano (Extremadura Committee). He admonished Mamardashvili from the locals and Hermoso, Llorente, Griezmann, Saúl and Barrios from the visitors.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the fifth day of LaLiga played at the Mestalla stadium in front of 45,362 spectators. Before starting the match, a minute of silence was held in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Morocco and the floods in Libya, as well as in memory of Salif Keira, former Valencia player in the 70s. Valencia player Enith Salón performed the honor kick-off on the occasion of the recent world championship won with Spain.
