Tino Costa set up one and scored another as Valencia beat local rivals Levante 2-0. The former La Liga leaders have now lost back-to-back La Liga games after a brilliant start to the season. With the win, Valencia moved above Levante into third place.
Beaten for the first time this season last week, Levante were intent on extending their run of home league wins to five. They started positively, too, with leading scorer Juanlu Gómez being denied by the legs of Valencia goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Their early promise soon faded, however, and they fell behind after 31 minutes when Javi Venta, attempting to prevent Jordi Alba from getting a shot away, poked the ball past his own goalkeeper. Tino Costa, who set up the opener with a defence-splitting pass, made the points safe with a 50th-minute free-kick which deceived Gustavo Munúa.
In Saturday’s other games, Real Betis v Málaga and RMallorca v Sevilla all finished goalless.
