Gijón, Jan 18 (EFE).-Valencia sealed the cup tie against Sporting in a few minutes because they knew how to take advantage of a team that offered many defensive facilities in Miguel Ángel Ramírez’s debut game as rojiblanco coach.
Valencia is not good at El Molinón in the cup competition, since they have played seven games and have not won any, although the last time they did so, the 2018-19 season, they lost 2-1 but won in the second leg 2- 0 and in the end he ended up winning the final.
Miguel Ángel Ramírez presented a line-up in which most of the players can be considered starters, the same as Gattuso in Valencia, who recognized that his team had much more at stake in this tie than Sporting.
After the first few minutes of fighting to gain control of the game, Valencia quickly sealed the tie, taking advantage of the defensive weakness of the Gijon team, who were very soft and easily outmatched.
Valencia’s first great opportunity was wasted by Cavani, who sent a ball high that fell at his feet and on the edge of the small area after a mistake by Mariño when trying to pass Insúa when he had his back to the action.
But the Uruguayan corrected his mistake just a minute later by taking advantage of a great action by Kluivert and surpassing Mariño’s start with a shot at mid-height.
With the score against Sporting, he had his best minutes but without posing dangerous situations for Mamardashvili, who had a calm first half as the rojiblancos didn’t shoot on goal even once.
Sporting played with the defense very advanced and that condemned them in two actions in which the speed of the forwards surprised them to reach the break with a clear 0-3.
The second visitor’s goal came in a personal action by Kluivert who received a ball almost in the center of the field and many meters ahead with no other opponent than Insúa, whom he overcame by speed to raise the ball before Mariño left.
The third was practically the same, except that the play was collective because several players participated and Cavani culminated with his second goal that left the tie clearly decided in favor of the Valencian team.
The public demanded a possible penalty from the Valencian goalkeeper on Zarfino, who ended up on the ground after a clash with Mamardashvili but Munuera Montero was clear about it and did not attend to the public’s protests from the rojiblancos players.
At the start of the second half, Ramírez reinforced the defensive line by bringing on Izquierdoz instead of winger Queipo, with which the two full-backs were more ahead in attack than they did in the first half, but in defense there were more men involved.
The Valencian dominance increased in these second 45 minutes and most of the time was played in the local midfield that seemed incapable of stealing balls and when they did they lost them quickly.
Changes arrived massively and in a drive by the newly incorporated Hugo Duro he centers on Lino’s drive who only has to push the ball into the back of the net.
The minutes went by and Sporting still did not shoot on goal and even almost did not approach the rival area.
The local fans dismissed Djurdjevic with a loud row because another game by the Serbian striker was a hindrance for the team in a season that has been a real disaster for him.
Ramírez’s debut on the rojiblanco bench resulted in a clear defeat, something predictable against a rival like Valencia, but with his team giving a very poor image so he has a lot of work ahead of him because the situation in the league does not allow and many more setbacks.
– Datasheet
0.- Sporting: Marino, Guille Rosas, Gragera, Insúa, Diego Sanchez (Pol Valentin m.86), Nacho Martin, Pedro Diaz, Otero (Christo m.66), Zarfino (Campuzano m.66) Queipo (Izquierdoz m. 45) and Djurdjevic (Milovanovic m.66)
4. Valencia: Mamardashvili, Foulquier, Paulista, Cenk, Gaia, Musah (Hugo m.66), Almeida (Moriba m.66), Lino (Fran Perez m.66), Lato, Kluivert (Jesus Vazquez m.74) and Cavani (Hugo Duro m.56)
Goal: 0-1, Cavani (M.10), 0-2, Kluivert (M.20), 0-3, Cavani (M.38), 0-4, Lino (M.63)
Referee: Munuera Montero.
Incidents: Round of 16 match played at El Molinón before 14,625 spectators.