Valencia capitalized on two AC Milan defensive errors to defeat the Rossoneri 2-1 and claim the 2014 Trofeo Naranja at the Mestalla on Sunday evening.
Paco Alcacer’s 40 yard strike was cancelled out by Keisuke Honda’s goal from a free kick before Rodrigo’s goal late in the first half secured the victory for the Spanish side.
Milan opened with neat passing along back line but found it difficult to find space in the centre of the pitch as Andrea Poli and Bryan Cristante were under intense pressure from the Valencia midfielder’s.
The scoring started in the 17th minute when Alcacer intercepted a weak Zapata pass. The diminutive forward spotted Diego Lopez wandering off his line and exploited the former-Real Madrid keeper’s complacency with a perfectly weighted lob from 45 meters to open the scoring for the home side.
Stephan El Shaarawy began dropping deep to build attacks, on one occasion almost putting Giampaolo Pazzini through on the Valencia goal though it amounted to very little.
The Rossoneri found their equalizer in the 27th minute when they were awarded a free-kick from 30 yards out. Evoking highlights of his CSKA Moscow days, Honda’s fierce bending shot cleared the wall to beat Valencia keeper Diego Alves at the near post and level the score at 1-1.
Milan’s renewed confidence was dissipated a minute later, however, when Diego Lopez almost handed Valencia a goal by mishandling a cross, putting into the path of Rodrigo.
Valencia resumed dictating play in the centre of the park, despite El Shaarawy repeatedly dropping deep to break-up Valencia captain Dani Parejo’s orchestration of the Valencia attack.
Honda also lowered expectations with the first of two comically botched corners, ballooned high behind the goal posts for both efforts.
After minutes of build up in the Valencia attack ex-Benfica forward Rodrigo struck on 37 minutes.
After sloppy clearances by Zapata and Lopez, Michelangelo Albertazzi misjudged a cross, allowing it to bounce, only to weakly head the ball into the path of the prowling Rodrigo.
The attacker eluded El Shaarawy, who had raced back to support his hapless teammate, and beat Diego Lopez with a clinical finish at the near post.
Milan’s frustration led to a bout of shoving and shirt-tugging between Sulley Muntari and Parejo at the other end, for which the pair collected yellow cards.
The second half picked up where the first had left off with Valencia controlling the pace of play, and Milan devoting its possession to precarious passing among the back line and Lopez.
After a round of substitutions on both sides, with Paris Saint-Germain arrivals Alex and Jeremy Menez coming on for Zapata and Pazzini, and Paolo Armero for Albertazzi, Milan began to secure more possession.
The midfield still could not control the play however, and attacks fizzled-out with speculative long balls launched from the back line, with Ignazio Abate and Honda failing to penetrate on the right flank.
The half ended without further goals, although Valencia never stopped threatening with surging runs by substitute Sofiane Feghouli.
The final whistle saw Rodrigo collect man-of-the-match honours and Valencia skipper Parejo triumphantly bouncing the Naranja trophy before the home crowd.
