Match Report: Valencia 1 Chelsea 1

A late penalty from Roberto Soldado rescued a point for Valencia against Chelsea at Mestalla on Wednesday – but it was Diego Alves who was the hero following a string of outstanding saves to keep the hosts alive at various points throughout the second half.

The Brazilian keeper, making only his second appearance following his summer move from Almería, showed incredible reactions to deny Fernando Torres (twice), Ramires and Nicolas Anelka as the Londoners carved out plenty of chances to take maximum spoils.

As it was, Chelsea relinquished the lead given to them by Frank Lampard shortly after the interval when substitute Salomon Kalou handled a corner three minutes from time and Soldado made no mistake from the spot, sending Petr Cech the wrong way to net his sixth goal of the season.

The result leaves Valencia facing an uphill struggle to finish top of Group E but qualification of any sort might have been in serious jeopardy had it not been for Kalou’s late intervention.

The two teams traded mere half-chances in the opening 45 minutes as Los Che made a nervy opening in front of a disappointing crowd but they finished the half stronger as Miguel hit the side-netting with a deflected effort and Pablo Hernández went close on a couple of occasions.

However, most of the goalmouth action arrived after the interval and it was Alves, so often in the firing line at his previous club, who stole most of the plaudits, producing three stunning saves in the space of two minutes shortly after the restart.

That said, it appeared as though all his good work had gone to waste moments later when a searching low cross from José Bosingwa found Frank Lampard in space 15 yards from goal, the England midfielder’s well-struck first-time effort leaving Alves rooted to the spot.

Valencia’s attempts to get back into the game appeared as though they would be fruitless with Cech in competent form at the other end when called upon to deny speculative efforts Pablo Piatti and Jonas – that was until Kalou’s rush of blood handed the hosts the lifeline they required.

There was still enough time for either side to have snatched a late winner, the biggest chance falling to substitute Anelka in space through on goal, but Alves was out quickly to deny the Frenchman with his feet, just in case anybody had forgotten about his earlier contribution.

Now Los Che face up to a crucial double-header against Bayer Leverkusen in their next two Champions League outings. They currently trail the Germans by a point, and those games will probably go a long way towards deciding which team will join Chelsea in the last 16.

FT: Valencia 1 (Soldado, 87) – Chelsea 1 (Lampard, 56)

Valencia: Diego Alves, Miguel, Rami, Víctor Ruiz, Alba; Albelda, Banega (Jonas, m.72), Pablo (Feghouli, m.72), Mathieu (Piatti, m.58); Canales, Soldado.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, David Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires (Meireles, m.65), Obi Mikel, Lampard (Kalou, m.83), Malouda; Mata Torres (Anelka, m.72).

Mike Holden can be followed on Twitter here.

Tags: Chelsea, Diego Alves, Lampard, Mata, Piatti, Soldado, Torres, Valencia