VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) – Valencia made it two wins out of three in Champions League Group H when own goals from the luckless Lasse Nielsen and Stefan Mitrovic gifted the La Liga side a 2-1 victory over Belgian champions Ghent on Tuesday.
After losing 3-2 at home to Zenit St Petersburg in their opening game, Valencia revived their bid for a place in the round of 16 when a Sofiane Feghouli effort secured a 1-0 success in Lyon last month.
The Algeria international was again decisive at a rainy Mestalla, vying with Nielsen to be first to a Joao Cancelo centre and forcing the Dane to put the ball into his own net in the 15th minute.
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Valencia almost doubled their lead 10 minutes later but Santi Mina and Dani Parejo were denied by a superb double save from goalkeeper Matz Sels.
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The visitors levelled five minutes before the break when Thomas Foket chested the ball down in the penalty area and smashed a superb angled shot high past Jaume Domenech in the home goal.
Valencia struggled to exert control in the second half, with the fans at the Mestalla becoming increasingly frustrated until a Jose Gaya cross-shot ricocheted into the net off the unfortunate Mitrovic 18 minutes from time.
It was hardly a vintage performance from Valencia, back in the Champions League after a two-year absence, but tightened their grip on second place in the section with six points.
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Zenit lead on a maximum nine points after they won 3-1 at home to Lyon, with Ghent and Lyon each on one point.
(Writing by Iain Rogers, editing by Pritha Sarkar)