Soldado's strike seals 3rd straight win for Valencia

Roberto Soldado's fifth goal in three games maintained Valencia's perfect start to the season as Unai Emery's side claimed a narrow victory at Sporting Gijon on Saturday evening. The in-form striker, who scored a hat-trick in his side's thrilling 4-3 win at home to Racing Santander on the opening weekend and netted the only goal of the game as Valencia defeated Atletico Madrid in their next match, was on target again as he bundled home a rebound after half an hour. Pablo Hernandez advanced down the left, riding several challenges before setting up Jonas. The Brazilian's shot was saved and the rebound fell to Soldado, in the right place at the right time, to convert what was the first real chance of the game. Soldado latched onto a neat ball from Ever Banega midway through the second half, but saw his shot saved by Juan Pablo Colinas. The striker then departed with a twisted ankle and was replaced by Aritz Aduriz, who missed a great chance to make it 2-0 soon after coming on. Sporting piled on the pressure in the closing stages as they sought a late leveller. Valencia keeper Vicente Guaita made a great save to deny David Barral and the home side were virtually camped in the visitors' area in the final few minutes. However, the visitors held on to move provisionally top of the table, where they could be joined by Real Madrid and Betis on Sunday.