Saturday, November 27, 2021 at 6:10 PM• Jeroen van Poppel

Jasper Cillessen was unable to beat Rayo Vallecano (1-1) on Saturday with Valencia. The goalkeeper of los Che got almost nothing to do in Mestalla, but still had to concede a goal in the second half. Cillessen initially made a good save, but he had to pass on the rebound. Valencia is stuck in ninth place, while Rayo is fifth.

The initiative came to Valencia in the opening phase. Los Che forced a penalty within twenty minutes when Carlos Soler was kicked on the heels by Esteban Saveljich. The Valencia midfielder convincingly scored the penalty himself: 1-0. The home side then withdrew and let Rayo Vallecano make the game. The visitors didn’t know how to handle that and were unable to test Cillessen in the first half.

Shortly after the break, Valencia midfielder Gonçalo Guedes had the misfortune that his beautiful volley went just wide of the post. Rayo’s first real chance came in the 64th minute. Cillessen cleverly tapped an Alejandro Catena in from the bottom corner, but was unable to prevent the rebound from being completed very close by Isi Palazón: 1-1. Valencia went looking for the winner and created a huge opportunity for Dimitri Foulquier, who produced a weak shot.