Record-breaking Valencia maintain Barca chase

Valencia maintained their pursuit of Barcelona to remain four points off the La Liga leaders thanks to second-half goals from Geoffrey Kondogbia and Santi Mina to beat a luckless Espanyol 2-0 on Sunday.

A club record eighth straight La Liga win for Valencia moves Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men six points clear of Real Madrid in third and sets up a mouthwatering top of the table showdown at home to Barcelona next Sunday.

However, the visitors had fortune on their side as Espanyol dominated for large spells and hit the woodwork twice.

Marcelino surprisingly left top scorer Simone Zaza and on-loan Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Guedes on the bench and that decision nearly backfired as Valencia struggled to gain a foothold in the first hour.

Gerard Moreno and Sergi Darder both struck the post for the hosts in a six-minute spell just before half-time.

Valencia’s goalkeeper Neto also had to show smart reactions to deny Sergio Garcia and Moreno once more as Espanyol looked the more likely side to make the breakthrough.

The pressure Valencia were under was seen on the sidelines as Marcelino was sent to the stands for his protests towards the officials and could now be banned from the touchline against Barca.

However, a moment of magic from Kondogbia swung the game Valencia’s way 23 minutes from time as he curled home a wonderful strike from 25 yards.

And Mina pounced on Victor Sanchez’s short back-pass to calmly side-foot past Pau Lopez on the volley to secure all three points.

At the other end of the table, Malaga came from behind to edge a five-goal thriller against Deportivo la Coruna 3-2 to move off the bottom of the table.

Borja Baston’s first goal for the club six minutes from time saw Malaga leapfrog Las Palmas and Alaves to close within a point of safety.