Valencia edge Dynamo in friendly
Aritz Aduriz scored twice in the first half as Spain's Valencia held on for a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo in a friendly on Thursday.
Aduriz opened the scoring for Valencia just 71 seconds into the match, taking a cross in the box from Argentine midfielder Pablo Piatti and shooting from 16 yards (metres). The shot bounced off goalkeeper Tyler Deric as he attempted a diving save, hit the far post and bounced over the line.
Valencia coach Juan Carlos Carcedo said he was excited by the way his team played.
"I think we played a good game and gave a good spectacle," Carcedo said. "The goals and the way that everyone understood each other on the field, that was our goal. We were happy to achieve those goals."
Calen Carr equalized in the 14th minute, dribbling to toward the area and sending a shot inside the near post.
"It was a good goal," Carr said. "It wasn't one of my best goals or one of my most important goals. Overall, the match had some good moments."
Aduriz gave Valencia a the winning lead three minutes later when he gathered a pass from Piatti at the area and sent the ball inside the near post.
Houston had a chance to equalize in the 90th minute, but Macoumba Kandji's shot from the left was saved by Vicente Guaita.
Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said he was pleased with the way his team played.
"I thought it was a good match played against a great team," Kinnear said. "That was a great goal by Calen."
Valencia, which finished third in the 2011-2012 La Liga standings, defeated Portland 1-0 on May 23 in the only other match of its United States tour. Aduriz scored the lone goal in that game as well.
"I'm happy to score the three goals on the trip," Arduriz said. "I'm going to be the main goal scorer now, so this was good for me to prepare for next year."
