Gary Neville was looking to earn his first La Liga win as Valencia boss, and raise serious questions over the future of Rafa Benitez at Real Madrid in the process, but instead the former Manchester United captain had to settle for a hard earned draw.
Neville will have been gutted that his side didn't take all three points as Alvaro Negredo failed to convert a 1v1 at the death, but he then will have been counting his lucky stars that he didn't come away with nothing after Real Madrid very nearly went straight up the other end and won it.
Real took the lead through a lovely move, with Ronaldo providing an assist with a deft flick for Karmim Benzema:
Only for Valencia to draw level from the penalty spot in the second half.
With 10 minutes left Gareth Bale thought he had won it when he powered a header home to put his side in front, but the lead only lasted a matter of seconds as Valencia replied immediately through Paco Alcacer:
And then came the madness. From a Real Madrid corner, Valencia launched a counter and Negredo was put through by a glorious through ball. The former City striker fluffed his lines, and Real countered that counter, only for Bale to blaze over from a good position:
Thrilling stuff.
Reports from Spain suggest that a board meeting has been called for Monday to discuss the future of Benitez according to Guilleme Ballague, whereas Neville refuted claims that he didn't want to stay on as Valencia manager past the summer in his post-match press conference.
via r/soccer.
