Mikautadze's 96th-minute winner leaves Valencia 19th after 2-1 loss to Villarreal

Georges Mikautadze scored in the 96th minute to give Villarreal a 2-1 win at Valencia on Saturday, in a derby that finished ten against ten. Pepelu's penalty had put the hosts ahead before Alex Freeman equalised, and the defeat leaves Valencia 19th in LaLiga with 6 points from 10 matches.

A penalty from the first shot on target

Villarreal had most of the ball in the first half, but Mundo Deportivo counted nine attempts from Íñigo Pérez's side before the break with only one on target: a Tajon Buchanan shot that Stole Dimitrievski saved one-on-one. Valencia lost winger David Otorbi to injury after about a quarter of an hour; he was carried off on a stretcher, and his replacement Dani Raba was whistled by part of the Mestalla crowd as he came on.

Raba soon changed the mood. He went past two defenders into the box, where Renato Veiga stepped on him, and after a VAR review referee Alejandro Quintero González gave the penalty. Pepelu converted it in the 38th minute, his 12th penalty goal since joining Valencia, according to El Mundo. It was the home side's first shot on target.

Chances missed, then the turnaround

Valencia had their best spell after the break. Péter Gulácsi saved a close-range volley from José Gayà, César Tárrega's goal from the following corner was ruled out because Raba was offside and interfering, and Arnaut Danjuma shot at Gulácsi when clean through. Pérez then sent on Alberto Moleiro, Sergi Cardona and Mikautadze, and Cardona's cross from the left found Freeman unmarked at the far post for a headed equaliser in the 69th minute.

The game then turned bad-tempered. Villarreal's Pape Gueye was shown a straight red card in the 79th minute after VAR spotted an elbow that cut Gayà's face. Valencia's numerical advantage lasted ten minutes: Harvey Elliott, a 70th-minute substitute, was booked and then shown a second yellow card for protesting, his first red card in Spain according to Marca. With both sides down to ten, Valencia lost the ball in Villarreal's half, Moleiro released Mikautadze on the counter, and the Georgian finished with his left foot past Dimitrievski.

What it changes

The win lifts Villarreal to 12 points, eighth on goal difference behind Alavés. Valencia have one win, three draws and six defeats, have scored seven goals in ten matches, and sit three points behind 17th-placed Rayo Vallecano, who have a game in hand. Málaga, bottom on 5 points, are the only side below them.

Aguirre has two points from his first three matches in charge. "I'm a bit worried because we've gone three games without winning, and that troubles me a lot," the Mexican coach said after the match. He blamed the late goal on his side's push for a winner: "The ball is ours in their half and we neglect the counter-attack." He said Otorbi had been playing and training very well and that the club was waiting for scans before judging the injury.

The result came a day after the announced sale of Peter Lim's 42% stake in Valencia to Pitchwise Holdings. Asked about it, Aguirre said only that results were what interested him.