Two Own Goals and a Freefall: Valencia Sink Themselves at the Riazor

Some losing teams are beaten; others help beat themselves. Valencia did the latter at the Riazor, gifting Deportivo two of the three goals through their own defenders and deepening a run of form that is starting to look like a genuine crisis. Cesar Tarrega turned into his own net on 13 minutes and Mouctar Diakhaby repeated the misfortune on 59 — two own goals bracketing an afternoon Valencia will want to forget, and a 3-1 scoreline that says as much about their fragility as Deportivo's threat.

Between the self-inflicted damage came a moment of genuine quality. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it 2-0 on 17 minutes, finishing a Mario Soriano pass with the composure of a striker who has scored these all his career. It was the goal that gave the scoreline its shape — an early cushion that let Deportivo settle and defend a lead their hosts' advantage had already established. For a promoted side, an experienced finisher taking his chance so cleanly is exactly the kind of steadying presence a season needs.

Valencia were not without a response. Umar Sadiq pulled one back on 26 minutes to make it 2-1 and, for a spell, hint at a way into the game. But the second own goal on 59 snuffed out any momentum, and a team low on confidence could not summon the sustained pressure a comeback needed. Their recent results — a string of defeats and stalemates — hung over everything; sides in a rut tend to find new ways to lose, and conceding twice to your own defenders is about as demoralising as those ways come.

Deportivo will not care how the goals arrived, and nor should they — three points is three points, and a home win over a top-flight name is a marker of progress, even one delivered partly by the opposition. A late red card for Alti barely registered with the game already won. For Valencia, though, this is the sort of afternoon that defines a difficult season: outscored, out-of-sorts, and undone by their own hands. Until the mistakes stop, the results will not, and the Riazor was another painful entry in a growing list.