Last update 2 December, 2022 by Alberto Llopis
And hattrick by Roberto Soldado achieved a well-deserved victory for Valencia on their visit to BATE Borisov, in a meeting in which the forces were even in the first part, but in which Mauricio Pellegrino's team was much superior after the break.
The Valencian team only needed to get ahead on the scoreboard to offset their rival. He had the fortune to do it in a clear penalty in the last gasp of the first half, but in the second, when BATE was forced to lead, the Valencians did not give him a choice.
Valencia got this victory in the fight for qualification, took moral, he left his rival touched and showed the defensive solidity that he had not shown in the most recent games. During the first part, the game went as expected, since BATE gave ground and Valencia was responsible for taking the initiative. His was the ball in this phase of the match, but without depth to create scoring chances.
Roberto Soldado's hattrick
BATE hoped to get a return on the backlash, so the Valencia coach, Argentine Mauricio Pellegrino, decided to line up three players in the midfield (Albelda, Gago and Tino Costa) to stop the fast exits of the Belarusian team.
During the first half, Valencia had no problems while the ball was his, but he suffered more than necessary when he lost it because the BATE players created too much danger for how little they approached Diego Alves' goal. All his arrivals complicated the defense of Valencia.
After half an hour, the local team had their best moments, just when Valencia had more problems to disarm the local defense, that remained solid and seamless. Besides, when he recovered the ball, He always started committed plays before the goal of the Spanish team, where Diego Alves made good stops.
However, none of these attacks came to fruition and when a scoreless draw seemed a not only fair but good result for Valencia at halftime, a grip from Simic on Soldier in the area led to the penalty that the Valencia forward himself converted into the 0-1.
The second part was going to start with a different scenario, with BATE forced to look for the goal and with Valencia forced to defend better than it has done in recent games and to demonstrate its ability to resolve the match with a second goal.
Put on, well, where it was best for Valencia, since the BATE had to attack, which allowed the Spanish team to find spaces and take advantage of them, just as it happened with him 0-2, marking a great shot from Soldier to saved pass.
Shortly after, Valencia had three more occasions against a disoriented opponent and who had to play as he did not like and who did not join the new stage of the game, controlled by Valencia.
Soldier's third goal, after a great combination with Tino Costa, He left the match sentenced with more than twenty minutes of play ahead and, above all, with a feeling of great superiority by the Valencian team.
There, with a lot of time ahead, ended the match with a necessary result for Valencia, to whom a defeat would have left him with hardly any qualifying options and in which BATE returned to reality after a spectacular start to this group stage, with two wins in their first two encounters.