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Vicente inspires Valencia win over Anderlecht
Vicente scored the opening goal and created the second to give Valencia a comfortable 2-0 victory over Anderlecht in their opening Champions League Group G match on Tuesday.
Vicente set up the second in the first minute of first-half injury time when he found Ruben Baraja just outside the box to thread a shot past Zitka. The Spanish champions continued to dominate in the second half and clinched their first victory over Belgian opposition with little difficulty. Valencia, twice beaten finalists in the Champions League and returning to the competition after their Spanish league and UEFA Cup double last season, were quickly into their stride at a packed Mestalla. Curro Torres whistled a shot over the bar after five minutes and a couple of minutes later Pablo Aimar picked out Miguel Angel Angulo to test Zitka after a powerful run. Vicente then beat Michal Zewlakow and Lamine Traore with a wonderful run down the left but Angulo, in space in the middle, could not find the target. Vicente showed a cooler head himself to open the scoring in the 17th minute thanks to Zitka's mistake. The keeper had ample time to gather Rufete's cross but the ball bounced off his chest and straight to Vicente to pick a spot inside the post. Valencia continued to dominate, with Baraja and David Albelda untouchable in the centre of midfield, and the second goal arrived seconds before the half-time whistle. Vicente cut in from the right and picked out Baraja, who took two touches to control just outside the area and beat Zitka with a sweet strike. The rhythm dropped in the second half, as Valencia sat deep and allowed Anderlecht more time on the ball. The Belgian side only occasionally threatened, though, with a long shot from Christian Wilhelmsson that surprised Santiago Canizares and scraped the outside of the post their only decent chance. Angulo was called offside after putting the ball in the net from an astute Aimar pass in a Valencia counter-attack midway through the second half but there was little else of note before Anderlecht went close a couple of times in injury time. |
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