Two Own Goals and an Aubameyang Strike Sink Valencia at Riazor

Two own goals from Valencia and a sharp finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were enough for Deportivo de La Coruna to take the match 3-1 at Riazor. Valencia left A Coruna feeling like their own worst enemy, though they could take some comfort from the promising signs they showed going forward.

The match got underway with Deportivo pressing from the opening whistle, and in the 12th minute the pressure paid off: a corner kick that Cesar Tarrega failed to clear ended up in his own net, making it 1-0. The setback did not slow the home side down, and in the 16th minute they doubled their lead on the counterattack: Mario Soriano slipped in a through ball and Aubameyang finished with his left foot from the center of the box to make it 2-0.

Valencia, though, stayed in the game. Nine minutes later, in the 25th minute, Umar Sadiq tapped in a close-range effort to pull one back and make it 2-1 at the break, capping a first half in which both sides created clear chances: Aubameyang tried his luck again before halftime and Ryunosuke Sato caused problems with a shot that was blocked.

The second half kept up the same intensity as the first, with shots from Filip Ugrinic and Aubameyang himself failing to find the target. The match was effectively settled in the 58th minute, when another clearance attempt inside the box deflected off Mouctar Diakhaby into his own net, making it a final 3-1. Valencia turned to the bench, bringing on Arnaut Danjuma, Hugo Duro and David Otorbi in search of a response, and later had chances to close the gap through Danjuma, Dani Raba and Ugrinic again, but none of them found the net.

By the numbers

The stats point to a match closer than the scoreline suggests. Valencia controlled more of the ball and created slightly more, but Deportivo was sharper when it mattered.

The distribution of chances also shows up in the post-match expected goals figures: 1.289 for Deportivo against 1.213 for Valencia, a razor-thin difference that confirms the result came down more to finishing and self-inflicted errors than to any real gap in the quality of chances created.

Pre-match odds had been fairly even, with a slight edge for Valencia: 30% chance of a home win, 32% for a draw and 38% for a Valencia victory, with expected goals of 1.07 for Deportivo and 1.23 for Valencia. The final outcome ended up being far kinder to the Galician side than projected, in large part thanks to the two own goals the visitors could not avoid.

What the result means

With this win, Deportivo de La Coruna moves to 5 points in LaLiga, the product of 1 win and 2 draws in 3 matches played, placing them in the upper-middle part of the table. Valencia, on the other hand, are still struggling to get going: they have just 1 point after 3 matchdays, with 1 draw and 2 losses, and sit near the bottom of the standings. The gap between the two sides was already 4 points before this match, and the result at Riazor only underscores the opposite directions the two clubs are heading in this early part of the season.