'Charrúa' strike at Mestalla. Valencia CF defeated Barcelona 2-0 in the 21st round of La Liga in Spain, where the great Azulgrana figure Lionel Messi was overshadowed by the performance of Uruguayan Maxi Gómez, protagonist of the match as he appeared in both goals for his team against the tournament leader.
The Uruguayan forward went through it all. At 12', he stepped up to take a penalty shot, which would be saved by Ter Stegen. Gómez persisted and took the shot that resulted in an own goal by Jordi Alba to open the scoring.
His great moment came in the 77th minute. The ball reached Ferrán Torres on the right side and after eluding Samuel Umtiti, he assisted Maxi Gómez, who after controlling in the opponent's area, finished as far away as possible from Ter Stegen to score his own goal and make it 2-0 in the game.
The Uruguayan forward is Valencia's top scorer this season, already with 8 goals and only three fewer than his compatriot Luis Suárez, who did not play for Barça due to injury.
Valencia has been a very difficult rival for the Azulgranas in their recent confrontations. In the four previous direct duels before this one, the 'che' team only lost once and it was at Camp Nou. In addition, they drew twice and won the Copa del Rey final of last season. With this victory, they reached 34 points, entering the qualifying zone for the Europa League.
