Valencia Dec 4 (IANS) Short-handed Getafe prevailed over second-placed Valencia 1-0 handing to the visitors their first defeat in the 2017-18 La Liga football season.
Markel Bergara s 66th-minute strike proved to be the winner as Valencia on Sunday squandered an opportunity to narrow their five-point gap with La Liga leaders FC Barcelona who drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo on Saturday reports Efe.
Things seemed to get easier for Valencia in the 25th minute when Getafe s Uruguayan midfielder Mauro Arambarri was sent off after being shown a second yellow card.
The decision came shortly after the assistant referee controversially annulled a goal by Getafe s Amath Ndiaye Diedhiou for being offside.
However ironically these decisions were a turning point for Getafe not for the toothless Valencia.
Only Valencia s Dani Parejo managed to threaten near Getafe s net firing three shots all of which minder Vicente Guaita saved.
The 10-man Getafe controlled the rest of the first half manufacturing a close scoring chance only to have Jorge Molina head one above the crossbar.
Getafe s momentum continued after the break although Angel Rodriguez squandered a chance to get the team on the board and out in front.
After a great effort Jorge Molina passed the ball to Rodriguez who fired a wide shot 30 minutes to go before the injury time.
For a while Valencia started to control the ball only to concede a goal by Bergara who fired a shot from outside the area that got past goalkeeper Norberto Murara Neto a shot that proved to be the deciding factor in the win.
--IANS
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