Alaves remains unbeaten at home, rises to 4th in Spain

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This article was published 05/01/2019 (2828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BARCELONA, Spain – Alaves extended its impressive form in the Spanish league by fighting back to beat Valencia 2-1 on Saturday, remaining undefeated through all nine games at home.

The small team from the northern Basque Country region climbed past Real Madrid and into fourth place at six points behind leader Barcelona. Alaves also established its best record for the first half of a league season with 31 points after 19 rounds.

“We know that, while not superior, we can compete with anybody at home,” goal-scorer Tomas Pina said. “We feel how much our fans push us. That is one of our strengths. We hope that this harmony with our supporters continues.”

Valencia dominated possession with its flashier attack, but Alaves got its goals by out-muscling rivals to balls in the area.

Dani Parejo gave Valencia the lead in the 14th minute at Mendizorroza Stadium where the midfielder bent a free kick over the defensive barrier.

Borja Baston fought off Mouctar Diakhaby to win a ball from a corner kick and level in the 21st.

Pina added to the fightback in first-half injury time when he scrambled home a ball after Alaves pinned Valencia in its area and came close to scoring twice.

“We knew they were good at set-pieces and that they had scored six or seven goals that way this season, but we let our concentration down and committed two errors,” said Valencia striker Rodrigo Moreno, who missed one of Valencia’s few chances to get a second goal.

Valencia was left in 11th place.

EARLY STRIKE

Rayo Vallecano got a first-minute goal from Alvaro Medran and some good goalkeeping to earn a 1-0 victory at Valladolid.

Stole Dimitrievski saved a penalty kick by Miguel Alfonso with two minutes remaining to ensure the victory for the relegation-threatened Rayo.

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