Madrid: Valencia continued their solid start to La Liga and climbed to second when recent Spain recruit Paco Alcacer set them on their way to a 3-0 win at Getafe on Monday.
Forward Alcacer, who scored on his competitive Spain debut in this month’s 5-1 Euro 2016 qualification victory against Macedonia, fired Valencia ahead in the seventh minute at Getafe’s Coliseum stadium in the Madrid suburbs.
Midfielder Andre Gomes made it 2-0 in the 20th minute.
Striker Rodrigo had an eventful second half when he netted a 72nd-minute penalty before earning a second yellow card and getting sent off a minute later.
The victory lifted Valencia into second place after four matches, level on 10 points with Sevilla and two behind early leaders Barcelona, the only team with a perfect record.
Hopes are high at Valencia, who failed to qualify for Europe last season, that a takeover by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim will help the club put years of financial woes behind them and transform them into genuine challengers in domestic and continental competition.
Lim’s purchase of the club is close to completion, although reports in Spain have said talks with Valencia’s main creditor Bankia have broken down.
Meanwhile, Lim, who once courted Liverpool, is set to take a 50 per cent stake in English non-league club Salford City FC.
Papers have been submitted to the Football Association to formalise the acquisition of the shares of the club owned by the five former Manchester United players known as the ‘Class of ‘92’.
Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt will each retain a 10 per cent stake in the Evo-Stik Division One North club.
Lim has long been linked with owning an English club and in 2010 withdrew a bid to buy Liverpool.
A statement from the ‘Class of ‘92’ said: “When we set upon this journey we always knew at some point we wanted external partners involved, people who would share our vision for Salford City FC.
“We have all known Peter for over 10 years, his love of sport, above all football, is well documented. He has an incredible track record in business as well as youth and community engagement, especially at grassroots level.
“This will be fantastic for SCFC, Peter’s experience and knowledge is invaluable and can help take SCFC to where we believe they can be, it’s exciting times for the club.”
A spokesperson for Lim added: “What the lads want to accomplish resonated strongly with Peter, who shares a common belief with the lads in youth development through sports.
“The management of the club on a day-to-day basis, as announced back in March, will remain the same, this arrangement is important to all concerned.”
