Valencia 2 Celta Vigo 1: Parejo keeps his cool to put the heat on Barca
Valencia closed the gap to Barcelona back to two points at the top of La Liga thanks to Dani Parejo's late penalty against Celta Vigo.
Valencia captain Dani Parejo stepped up to score a late penalty, sealing a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo and moving Marcelino's men within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Los Che suffered their first league loss of the season last week, going down 1-0 at Getafe, but they responded with a hard-fought win back on home turf.
Simone Zaza took his La Liga tally for the season to 10 in the 28th minute when he stole in at the near post to flick Parejo's corner past a helpless Ruben Blanco.
But Valencia lost focus emerging for the second half and conceded a scrappy equaliser a minute after the restart.
A deflected cross drifted across the box as Valencia's defence dithered and Maxi Gomez's effort bobbled into the path of Iago Aspas, who poached inside the six-yard box.
Chances came and went for both sides, but victory was Valencia's nine minutes from the end when Nacho Gil tumbled under a weak challenge - Celta fumed at referee Jose Luis Munuera for awarding the spot-kick - and Parejo's effort was too firm for Blanco to handle, ensuring the heat is turned up on Barca before they travel to Villarreal on Sunday.
. keep on winning! 2-1 December 9, 2017
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
‘After Manchester City’s recent form, maybe they’re the underdogs against Manchester United!’ Former Red Devils defender on this weekend’s derby
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression