Tenerife 0-0 Valencia: Los Che Drop Points

The home side started the game with plenty of heart. It was clear that Roman Martinez and Juan Luis were not going to let their midfield get dominated. However, neither side could dominate the opening encounters, trading free kicks in the opening minutes of the match.

Tenerife had the first real chance of the game in the seventh minute. Nino got into the box and found space but could not send his header into the net after good full back play from Marc Bertran. Valencia attacked immediately as David Silva pinged an effort towards the bottom left corner of the goal but Sergio dived to stop at the very last moment.

Tenerife slowly started to pile on the pressure. Nino was seemingly through on goal on 15 minutes but was foiled by the linesman's flag as he just mistimed his run. Valencia looked a little out of sorts and this was demonstrated perfectly after Ever Banega won a free-kick in range of the Tenerife goal.

Valencia tried to scrap their way through a tough opening spell and could have gone ahead in the 21st minute. A couple of quick corners allowed some pressure to build and David Villa got his head to the ball which was blocked from the goal by a defender. Tenerife were still in the game, Nino hit a bullet from range before 30 minutes came up that Cesar Sanchez had to get down quickly to save.

Valencia's frustrations were growing and were personified when David Albelda went into the book for a needless foul on Marc Bertran. Tenerife then missed one of the best chances of the half as they seemed to be sailing into the half-time break. Juanlu delivered a perfect corner, which Pablo Sicilia rose to meet with a crisp header that flew inches wide of the left hand post. Juan Mata missed with a long range effort when Valencia broke but the match went into the second-half goalless.

The start of the second-half mirrored the first. Valencia were clearly playing the percentages and hoping that Tenerife could not keep up their good levels of determination. The home side won a corner pretty much as soon as the second 45 started but it was cleared before any danger emerged.

Ezequiel Luna then missed a good chance when he could not send his shot the right side of the post in the 51st minute. The entire Tenerife side were working hard. They were pressing, hassling and getting stuck in. Banega became the second Valencia player to go into the book after a scrappy challenge landed him in trouble.

Tenerife continued to press and were unfortunate not to find the lead when Roman had an effort blocked just before the hour mark. Valencia were having plenty of the ball but did not seem to have a way of creating any clear cut chances. This was until David Villa missed with a class effort. A rare flowing Valencia move saw the forward drift to the left before cutting in and unleashing a rocket which was just on the high side.

The home side were showing no sign of letting their hearty football stop. The score should have been 1-0 thanks to Alejandro Alfaro. However, Cesar Sanchez proved why he was Valencia's number one with a good diving effort, to cover a long distance and get down to smother the ball. The last half an hour of the game seemed to be either sides for the taking.

Tenerife's coach introduced some fresh legs as it looked like his team were getting tired. David Silva and Villa were starting to combine well in the pocket just in front of the back four. However, Valencia were being restricted to efforts from distance as the closing minutes approached.

The away side called on Carlos Marchena for help but the 75th minute substitute had little more effect than Banega, the man he replaced. Tenerife were giving it all they had and won a free kick in dangerous territory. However, the ball in was a poor one as Tenerife players flooded the box looking to snatch a late winner.

Silva then missed another great chance to steal the points for Valencia when he curled a ball past the post after good work from Marchena to poke it through a field of players. Angel Dealbert came off the bench to head inches wide inside the last ten minutes but ultimately it was not meant to be as Tenerife did superbly to win a point.

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