Valencia hang onto third place

Valencia opened up matchday 28 of the Liga BBVA campaign by keeping their good run of form alive thanks to a 0-4 win over Elche CF. André Gomes opened up the scoring on the stroke of half time and then set up Paco Alcácer to make it 0-2. The third was an Enzo Roco own goal and Nicolás Otamendi got the fourth of the evening in injury time.

Valencia had the majority and the chances at the beginning of the game. One of the first scoring opportunities fell to Paco Alcácer but David Lombán prevented the forward from making it 0-1. Sofiane Feghouli came close as well, however, his effort went agonisingly wide following a Pablo Piatti cross. The home side also created some danger of their own but were up against a ferocious defence which ensured the Alicante outfit’s threats on goal remained just did not turn into goals. Nuno Espíritu Santo's men were rewarded for their hard work a minute before the half-time whistle: André Gomes put the visitors ahead, capitalising on a poorly placed parry from Przemysław Tytoń.

Valencia doubled their lead twelve minutes after the restart. André Gomes was involved once again, this time providing an assist for Paco Alcácer to score for a second weekend in a row. Elche's top talisman, Jonathas, tried to pull one back with a long-range effort but his strike flew over the bar. Enzo Roco's own goal in the 70th minute put an end to the contest and Nicolás Otamendi added another in injury time from a corner kick. This result pushes Valencia to 60 points and sees them hang onto third place in the table, while Elche have 27 points.