La Liga wrap: Valencia held by Levante

2 April 2012 00:14

Valencia's run of poor form continued as they were held to a 1-1 by Levante in La Liga on Sunday, while Real Sociedad recorded a big win.

Unai Emery's Valencia opened the scoring through Jonas, but Arouna Kone levelled in the second half as both sides missed chances to win the encounter at Estadio Mestalla.

Valencia, coming into the clash on the back of three straight losses in all competitions, should have gone ahead through Dani Parejo, but the midfielder skied his shot from close range.

In an otherwise dour first half, Emery's men managed to open the scoring with a rare quality move.

Aduriz started the counter-attack when he played a precise pass to Sofiane Feghouli down the left, and the Algeria international squared for Jonas to tap in on 35 minutes.

Valencia continued to dominate possession without creating clear-cut chances, and they were made to pay in the 54th minute.

A cross-field Jose Barkero pass found Valdo, who nodded across goal to see Kone power a finish past Vicente Guaita.

Both teams had their chances in the final half-hour, but were forced to share the spoils as Valencia remained third.

Elsewhere, Real Sociedad moved eight points clear of the relegation zone with a 4-0 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano.

Imanol Agirretxe put his side ahead after six minutes, finishing off a neat Daniel Estrada cross.

Agirretxe turned provider soon after, nodding a pass across the face of goal for David Zurutuza to head home.

French midfielder Antoine Griezmann added the third on 51 minutes, latching onto Gorka Elustondo's pass before finishing, and former Arsenal forward Carlos Vela struck the fourth.

In the other game, Villarreal played out a 0-0 draw at home to Espanyol to move four points clear of the bottom three.