Valencia 2 Celta Vigo 1: Parejo keeps his cool to put the heat on Barca

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 LaLiga 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 LaLiga 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.

.@valenciacf_en keep on winning! #ValenciaCelta 2-1 pic.twitter.com/KMe9HV6Xn0

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) December 9, 2017