Valencia leapfrog Real Madrid to reclaim third place with win over Levante

Valencia have reclaimed third spot in the La Liga table thanks to Sunday's 3-1 win over local rivals Levante at the Mestalla.

Los Che opened the scoring on 17 minutes when Dani Parejo's corner kick was headed home by Santi Mina.

However, the visitors equalised just a minute later through Sergio Postigo, who tucked the ball into the bottom-left corner after connecting with Jose Campana's cross following a corner.

Marcelino Garcia Toral's charges continued to press and were rewarded with their second goal of the game just after the hour.

Oier Olazabal's save from Carlos Soler's drive prompted a goalmouth scramble which was finished off by Luciano Vietto, who stabbed home from point-blank range.

Levante then had the ball in the back of the net from a corner, but the referee ruled the goal out due to a push on a Valencia player, which replays showed came from a teammate.

The game was eventually put beyond the reach of Levante with a controversial late penalty awarded to Simone Zaza which was converted by Parejo.

VALENCIA (4-4-2): Neto; Montoya, Gabriel, Vezo, Gaya; Soler (Maksimovic 90+1'), Parejo, Kondogbia (Coquelin 73'), Guedes; Mina, Vietto (Zaza 79')

LEVANTE (4-1-4-1): Oier; Coke, Suarez, Postigo, Luna; Lukic (Marti 73'); Morales, Doukoure (Bardhi 72'), Campana, Alvarez, Pazzini