MADRID: Valencia spent the last couple of seasons trying to avoid relegation in La Liga. After eight matches this season, they’re already looking to dethrone Barcelona from the top of the standings.

Valencia moved up to second place with an emphatic 6-3 win at Real Betis on Sunday, moving to 18 points, four behind Barca and one above champions Real Madrid.

Valencia, whose last league titles came in 2002 and 2004, struggled in recent seasons under the ownership of Singa­pore investor Peter Lim.

Under coach Marcelino Garcia, Valencia have already won five times this season, and they’re coming off four straight wins while outscoring opponents 17-7.

“We are playing at a very high level collectively,” Valencia striker Rodrigo said. “We deserve a lot of credit for what we have been doing so far this season. We know there’s still a long way to go. We want more, we are an ambitious team.”

Valencia got off to a great start at the Benito Villamarin Stadium in Seville, opening a 4-0 lead with goals by Geoffrey Kondogbia, Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo and Santi Mina.

However, Betis threatened a stunning comeback as three goals in five minutes from Joel Campbell, Antonio Sanabria and Cristian Tello set up a thrilling finale.

More drama was to come, but at the other end as the on-fire Simone Zaza drilled home his seventh goal in eight games to make the game safe before Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.

Leganes’ fantastic start to just their second season in the top flight also continued as they compounded more misery on Malaga with a 2-0 win at La Rosaleda to move up to sixth.

Malaga remain winless and rooted to the bottom of the table, five points off safety.

Cedric Bakambu’s double handed Villarreal a 2-1 win at Girona.

And Eibar moved out of the relegation zone despite failing to turn their dominance into goals in a 0-0 draw at home to Deportivo la Coruna.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017