Valencia
took the lead in the second half with a strike from Hugo Duro, but Vinicius
Junior levelled in the 86th minute before sending in a cross for Karim Benzema
to head the visitors in front two minutes later.
Real also
pulled off a last-gasp victory in the Champions League by beating Inter Milan
with an 89th-minute goal from Rodrygo four days earlier. As a result, they have
now scored six goals in the final five minutes in five games in all
competitions this season.
"I
have a team that scrap and fight whether they are playing well or playing
badly," Ancelotti said.
"We
didn't beat them thanks to our quality, we did it thanks to our indomitable
spirit. We kept going right until the end."
The win
took Real to the top of the standings on 13 points, two ahead of city rivals
Atletico, but Ancelotti believes his side are still far from their best.
"We
have quite a young team and I'll be the first person to admit we're not playing
spectacular football at the moment," he said.
"We
didn't play well in the first half, we attacked well on the break but we were
pegged back a lot and when you sit too deep it's easy to concede goals."
The defeat
was hard to digest for Valencia coach Jose Bordalas, whose side overcame
first-half injuries to Carlos Soler and Thierry Correia and had dominated the
game until Real's late fightback.
"We're
sad because the team made an incredible effort after the problems we had with
Carlos and Correia," said the Spaniard, whose side are in third on 10
points.
"We
did exactly what we wanted to do and played much better than them, pressing
them high and controlling the game. We played 75 perfect minutes but we
couldn't afford to drop our concentration for even a second.
"We
were a little unlucky, but we should have managed the last few minutes better.
We didn't read the game well and ended up paying for our mistakes."
Title
rivals Barcelona are six points adrift of Real in 10th place, having played two
fewer games, but coach Ronald Koeman said he is not worried about his future
despite criticism in the wake of last week's 3-0 drubbing by Bayern Munich in
the Champions League.
"The
only thing is to think about the game, think about the team," said the
58-year-old whose side face Granada at the Nou Camp on Monday.
"The
other things are not in my hands."
Barcelona were outclassed by Bayern in last
Tuesday's group match, failing to register a single shot on target over the 90
minutes, but Koeman was confident his injury-ravaged team would return to
winning ways.
"So I'm calm, I'm trusting that we are
going to win games as we did at the beginning of the season. We have seven
points from three games, so there are a lot of games to go. I know, in the end,
the results count and nothing else. And I have no fear for my future.
Ultimately, the president decides on behalf of the club."
Barcelona will be without Ousmane Dembele,
Martin Braithwaite, Pedri, Jordi Alba, Sergio Aguero and Ansu Fati for Monday's
match.
0 comments:
Post a Comment