Valencia beat Bursaspor 6-1 to reach the Champions League knockout stage for the first time since 2007.
Spanish side thump Bursaspor to go through with a game to spare
Valencia battered Bursaspor 6-1 to reach the Champions League knockout stage for the first time since 2006/07.
The Spanish side thumped Bursaspor 4-0 in the reverse fixture and the Turkish champions were dead and buried inside 37 minutes, with Juan Mata's 17th-minute penalty sparking a four-goal blitz.
Mata laid on the second for Roberto Soldado and Aritz Aduriz scored on the half-hour mark before captain Joaquin curled in a fourth.
The visitors showed no signs of damage limitation as Soldado was allowed to run through in the 55th minute for his fifth goal in five Champions League games this season.
And although substitute Pablo Batalla restored some pride for Bursaspor by scoring the club's first Champions League goal in the 69th minute, Valencia sub Alejandro Dominguez struck late on to make it their biggest-ever Champions League home win.
Unai Emery's men are now sure of qualifying from Group C with a game to spare and can deny Manchester United top spot with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford on 7th December.
Let-off
Joaquin fired over early on from Aduriz's pass but the hosts had a scare when centre-back Ricardo Costa was caught in possession before slicing Volkan Sen's header over his own bar.
And it was easy to see why Bursaspor had yet to score in the competition as a long ball on the break put Sercan Yildirim clean through and although he lifted the ball over keeper Miguel Angel Moya, it drifted wide of the far post.
Yildirim would rue that miss as moments later Bursaspor captain Omer Erdogan was deemed to have brought down Aduriz for a harsh penalty, and Mata swept in the spot-kick left-footed.
Valencia were firmly in control after they doubled their lead four minutes later following a fine move on the right, which resulted in Mata laying off for Soldado to fire inside the far post from a tight angle.
Moya then sustained a thigh injury trying to launch the ball upfield and made way for Vicente Guaita, but the visitors failed to test the stand-in keeper before Valencia made it three.
Jordi Alba took a throw deep on the left and Mata's neat flick presented the full-back with the chance to square for Aduriz to bundle the ball in at the second attempt from close range.
The visitors almost pulled one back as Erdogan headed a corner too close to Guaita, but moments later Dimitar Ivankov denied Soldado following a woeful backpass by Federico Insua.
Soldado brace
Yet Valencia's fourth goal was not long coming as Alba found Joaquin on the edge of the box and the former Spain winger beat Erdogan before curling a fine right-footed effort into the top corner.
Tino Costa fired wide after the restart yet Bursaspor continued to play a high line, with Joaquin releasing Soldado to round the keeper and smash in his second goal.
In fairness to Bursaspor, they kept pressing forward with Sen and Batalla forcing saves from Guaita before Argentine midfielder Batalla was on hand to tap in from Yildirim's low centre.
Mata then helped on a long ball for Dominguez to fire home in the 78th minute, and Ivankov denied Mata what would have been the goal of the match after another fine move down the Valencia left.
| Valencia |
Team Statistics |
Bursaspor |
| 6 |
Goals |
1 |
| 4 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 12 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 0 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 4 |
Corners |
3 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 79.3 |
Passing Success |
71.9 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
12 |
| 76.2 |
Tackles Success |
75 |
| 54.6 |
Possession |
45.4 |
| 53.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.4 |
|
