Barcelona came back from a goal down to salvage a 1-1 draw against Valencia at the Mestalla on Sunday evening as both teams continued their unbeaten streaks at the top of La Liga.Jordi Alba came back to haunt his former club late on after Rodrigo Moreno tapped home a deserved breakthrough for Los Che, with the two teams each taking a point from their top-of-the-table duel.Valencia remain four points off the league leaders as a result of Sunday's draw, while Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, positioned third and fourth, respectively, will be glad to see both teams miss out on maximum spoils.A win over the league leaders at the Mestalla would have pulled Valencia within a single point of the Blaugrana, the closest these two teams have been pitched at this stage of the season for some years.With Gerard Pique suspended and Javier Mascherano out through injury, Los Che perhaps had their best opportunity to clinch a result against the table-toppers, too, as Thomas Vermaelen made a rare start:Barca won 3-2 in their last visit to face Valencia in October 2016, and the early signs pointed toward another goal-laden display in favour of the guests as they swiftly accumulated a head of steam in foreign territory.Undefeated at the Mestalla this season coming into the clash, manager Marcelino Garcia Toral's men started out positively enough against their first-placed foes but simmered after 10 minutes or so as the normal balance returned.It wasn't until 20 minutes in that Barca began to test with more than just long-range efforts, though, and despite the absences of Pique and Mascherano, Yahoo's Andrew Gaffney praised one defensive star holding down their fort:Valencia goalkeeper Neto was almost left red-facedand should have beenwhen after 30 minutes the Brazilian fumbled aLionelMessishot between his own legs and, as replays later showed, over his own goal line.With replay technology not yet in La Liga, the linesman wrongly opted to not give a goal, although Barcelona's players made their feelings known to the officials as Simone Zaza flashed a shot wide on the counter.While Barca's stars may have been in the wrong for not playing to the whistle, Spanish newspaperMarcaprovided proof they were within reason to be up in arms:Ernesto Valverde's men went in at half-time incensed to not already be one goal to the good, but Valencia let it be known early on after the restart that they remained a threat on the break, with Zaza again going close.Goncalo Guedes' pace down the left flank in particular was troubling Barca right-back Nelson Semedo, and it was Valencia's winger who fed left-back Jose Gaya in down the wing to set up Rodrigo's opener.The 26-year-old former Bolton Wanderers striker was lurking between defenders and kept his calm amid a sea of pressure to poke past Ter Stegen from close range before celebrating in style, per football writer Jack Lang:Valencia's rise this season has come from relative obscurity, but Spanish football journalist Alexandra Jonson showed how the form of their star forward duo has kept them closely competing with their Barcelona counterparts:Valverde rang the changes and introduced Gerard Deulofeu and Denis Suarez in place of midfield pair Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta, the former giving the guests a particularly different dimension down the wings.Just as one left-back had a key hand in setting up the opener, it was almost fate that former Valencia defender Alba came back to haunt his former club, latching onto a sensation Messi cross to volley in the equaliser.His speedy run into Neto's left any markers in his wake, although broadcaster Juan Arango directed the bulk of his praise toward the creator of the goal, whose impact fell with only eight minutes left on the clock:A leveller had been coming for Barca as Valencia were clinging on to their slim lead at times, and a share of the spoils for both teams was ultimately a deserved result in a hot contest between first and second.
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