Ten-man Valencia held by Deportivo La Coruna

Ten-man Valencia were held to a 1-1 draw with Deportivo La Coruna at the Mestalla tonight as Los Che remain winless from their first two Primera Liga outings

The hosts, who booked their Champions League group-stage spot at AS Monaco in midweek, endured a sluggish start and almost fell behind after just four minutes.

Lucas Perez did well to hold up possession before squaring to Luis Alberto, whose effort flashed inches wide of Mathew Ryan's goal.

Los Che did not heed the threat and Deportivo went close again on the 25-minute mark when Pedro Mosquera thumped just wide when Valencia failed to deal with a corner.

Unperturbed, they continued in the same vein and it proved a case of third-time lucky for Victor Sanchez's side, who finally broke the deadlock on 39 minutes when Lucas rifled home from just outside the box.

However, it was not enough to earn a half-time lead as Alvaro Negredo smashed home from a matter of yards when Santi Mina's cross was not dealt with.

Within eight minutes of the restart, Danilo was somehow denied when his point-blank header was kept out by German Lux as Valencia started well.

Lux found himself heavily involved as the clash wore on, with the Deportivo stopper thwarting Rodrigo on 66 minutes as the hosts grew frustrated.

All of their momentum was stifled in the final six minutes when Antonio Barragan picked up a second yellow card as the points were ultimately shared.