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Real Zaragoza 3-0 Valencia: Ten Man Los Che Humbled At La Romareda
Diogo, Arizmendi and Jarosik were on the scoresheet...
28-Mar-2010 5:17:00 AM
By Arjun Miglanii
La Liga - Fixtures/Results
Valencia suffered a humiliating loss against Real Zaragoza, with Carlos Diogo, Javier Arizmendi and Jiri Jarosik providing the goals.
Real Zaragoza started with Humberto Suazo up front, while Valencia were relying on Nikola Zigic for goals, in the absence of the injured David Villa.
The hosts started in confident fashion and Gabi had the first real chance of the match, heading Diogo's cross wide. Up the other end, Roberto made a great save from Juan Mata after Manuel Fernandes played him through, and followed it up by saving Zigic's header from the corner.
It was end to end stuff, and Cesar was soon in the action as well, saving from Ander Herrera. Zigic was proving Valencia's main goal threat, and he headed another corner wide on 25 minutes.
With just over five minutes left, Suazo's shot from just outside the box was deflected behind for a corner. Then came the breakthrough, as Diogo responded to Cesar's punch with a left-footed thunderbolt that went flying into the top corner.
There was still time for more drama when, on the stroke of half-time, Zigic was sent off for picking up a second yellow after a poor challence on Matteo Contini. Thus Zaragoza held all the aces going into the second half.
As expected, the hosts started the second half in dominant fashion, making use of their extra man. Then, just beofre the hour mark, there was a moment of confusion when the referee initially denied Valencia a penalty as Javier Paredes tangled with Pablo Hernandez, then reversed his decision after consulting with his assistants, then changed his mind again, ending in a simple goal-kick.
The game was still very much alive, as Joaquin headed Fernandez' cross over the bar. The winger was in the thick of it, and he nearly capitalized on a poor clearance by Edmilson, only to fire wide after making his way into the box.
Just as it looked as though Los Che might find a way back, Arizmendi latched onto Edmilson's ball and fired past Cesar, extending the host's lead.
Zaragoza continued to press, and Gabi saw his free-kick drift just wide on 67 minutes. Another goal looked on the cards, and it duly arrived on 70 minutes, when Jiri Jarosik got his foot on the end of Gabi's corner to tap it past Cesar.
The hosts were now playing with supreme confidence, and Arizmendi tested Cesar once more with a long range effort. Suazo tried likewise minutes later, but his shot trickled just wide.
The last ten minutes followed largely without incident, as Zaragoza held on to the lead that propels them away from the relagtion zone.
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