Valencia 3 Levante 0: Hosts claim derby spoils

Valencia eased to a 3-0 win over local rivals Levante on Monday in La Liga and moved within a point of the top three as a result.

Paco Alcacer and Sofiane Feghouli scored inside 20 first-half minutes to set Valencia on their way to maximum points at the Mestalla.

While Levante threated in the second half, Alvaro Negredo made it 3-0 late on to ensure Valencia move within a point of Atletico Madrid, while Levante stay in the bottom three.

The hosts were frustrated by officiating decisions early on as Loukas Vyntra escaped punishment despite seeming to handle in the area before Alcacer saw an effort ruled out for offside.

However, the striker did open the scoring in the 16th minute as the Spaniard got on the end of Daniel Parejo’s curled delivery.

David Barral blazed Levante’s first chance over the crossbar and Valencia made them pay after the half-hour mark as Feghouli glanced home a second from Lucas Orban’s cross.

Lucas Alcaraz introduced Jose Mari at the break and it nearly paid dividends as the striker crashed a long-range strike off the crossbar.

Diego Alves was kept busy – palming away a Barral strike in the final stages – before Negredo rounded off the scoring deep into stoppage time with an impressive half-volley.