rampant valencia make light work of st gallen published: thursday 24 october 2013, 23.31cet
valencia cf 5-1 fc st gallen
four goals inside 21 first-half minutes laid the sturdy foundations for the liga side's second victory in group a.
by delfín ramírez from mestalla
a flurry of first-half goals set valencia fc on the way to a convincing 5-1 defeat of fc st gallen that lifts them into second place in uefa europa league group a.
overwhelmed 3-0 by swansea city afc at mestalla on matchday one, miroslav djukić's team never looked in danger of suffering a similar fate. paco alcácer and captain ricardo costa scored either side of fede cartabia's double to give valencia a commanding lead. sergio canales then added a fifth with 19 minutes remaining before stéphane nater conjured a late consolation.
valencia set an unforgiving tone from the off, canales and daniel parejo drawing fine stops from visiting goalkeeper daniel lopar. st gallen rallied briefly but their momentum was punctured when alcácer pounced after cartabia's shot had been beaten away. the italian midfielder's subsequent effort squirmed in via a deflection off philippe montandon, and the same player trebled the advantage soon after.
the visitors were helpless to stem the flow as víctor ruíz flicked on a corner for costa, who nodded in. the hosts continued to dominate after the break, parejo's free-kick coming back off a post, before canales made no mistake from a similar dead-ball situation to make it five. there was still time for nater to pull one back, but the night belonged to valencia.
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