Winless Valencia secures draw against Villarreal in La Liga

Villarreal and Valencia played to a 0-0 draw in a hard fought Spanish La Liga football match that saw the Bats' midfielder Daniel Barejo being sent off at the one-hour mark.

The straight red card given to Valencia's best player in Sunday's game proved to be decisive but - ironically - in favour of his team, not Villarreal, reports Efe.

Villarreal not only failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority, but also allowed the 10-man Valencia side to feel comfortable and even threaten their goal on two close scoring chances.

During the first 45 minutes, the game was intense and evenly matched, but with both teams lacking attacking depth.

Neither team wanted to take the risk of rushing for the attack and when they did the defenders easily prevailed over the forwards.

On one of the rare scoring chances in the first half, Villarreal's Colombian forward Carlos Bacca was not able to get past Valencia's netminder Norberto Murara Neto, known as Neto, in a one-on-one situation.

The scoreless deadlock at the end of the first 45 minutes seemed a true reflection of what happened on the field.

Just 15 minutes into the second half, Barejo was sent off as was his coach Marcelino Garcia Toral for protesting the referee's decision.

To compensate for Barejo's absence, Francis Coquelin was inserted for Gameiro, which provided more consistency for Valencia's midfield.

The first scoring opportunity after Barejo departed was manufactured by Valencia in the 70th minute when Portuguese winger Gonçalo Guedes fired at the goal, but Sergio Asenjo turned it into a corner kick.

Asenjo saved the day for Villarreal once again in the 83rd minute, when Russia's Denis Cheryshev tried his luck.

--IANS

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