Nuno lauds defence after Atletico win

Nuno Espirito Santo hailed Valencia’s defensive efforts as they held on to beat defending La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

Valencia climbed up to second in the table courtesy of a 3-1 win at the Mestalla on Saturday.

Nuno’s Valencia showcased their attacking capabilities by scoring three times inside the opening 13 minutes, with Miranda’s own goal setting the tone before Andre Gomes and Nicolas Otamendi got on the scoresheet.

Atletico, as expected, refused to surrender and they pulled a goal back through Mario Mandzukic in the 29th minute, though Valencia’s defence held on to maintain their unbeaten start to the season after Guilherme Siqueira had a penalty saved on the stroke of half-time.

“Atletico Madrid are a fantastic team, with great players,” Nuno said afterwards.

“Their coach Diego Simeone was able to react immediately when we scored, and that caused us some problems.

“However we resisted, we defended very well and stayed solid at the back. I think we stopped them from playing very well.

“We had a three-goal lead but they pulled one back in the first half also and we were worried about it. We were winning 3-0 but we were worried.

“We felt that Atletico was always pushing us but in the second half we were excellent, our players were fantastic. They fought hard for the result and came into the game.

“We even managed to attack and press Atletico that is our philosophy. In the second half, we had the control. They didn’t have any chances.”