High-flying Valencia maintained their excellent start to the season whilst handing reigning champions Atletico Madrid their first defeat.
The hosts ran rampant in the opening stages, establishing a 3-0 lead inside 13 minutes thanks to an own goal from Atletico defender Miranda along with goals from summer signings Andre Gomes and Nicolas Otamendi.
The visitors pulled one back through Mario Mandzukic but wasted their chance to really get back into the game when Guilherme Siqueira missed a penalty just before the break.
A frantic first-half was given a suitably dramatic start when the hosts took an early lead in farcical circumstances. German defender Shkodran Mustafi launched a long ball into Atletico’s penalty area and Miranda, apparently caught in two minds between ducking out of the way and heading clear, ended up glancing a header disastrously past his onrushing goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya and into the net.
Atletico attempted to bounce straight back and Antoine Griezmann forced a low scrambling save from Diego Alves with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area.
But Valencia were had come fly ing out of the blocks and soon went two ahead when Gomes ran onto a flick from Paco Alcacer, dribbled past Miranda and then fired left-footed past the advancing Moya.
Amazingly, the third soon followed when Pablo Piatti delivered an inswinging corner and Otamendi escaped unmarked to rise high and flick home at the near-post, turning the tables on dead ball specialists Atletico.
Valencia were playing with the kind of intensity usually displayed by Atleti, but the visitors gradually found their composure and gained a foothold in the game when Tiago’s long-range strike was parried by Alves into the path of Mandzukic, who gratefully nodded home.
The champions then forced Valencia onto the back foot with a series of deliveries into the area, and from one of those the hosts were fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty when the ball clearly struck Antonio Barragan on the hand.
They weren’t so lucky next time, with referee Fernando Teixeira pointing to the spot when Jose Gaya handled under pressure from Arda Turan, but Alves saved Siqueira’s weak spot-kick to preserve the 3-1 advantage.
Atletico were on top for much of a feisty second-half but couldn’t find another breakthrough and their misery was compounded in stoppage time when substitute Alessio Cerci was sent off. The Italian received a second yellow card for a deliberate handball.
