Struggling Valencia frustrated by Valladolid

Ruben Alcaraz's perfect free-kick earned Real Valladolid a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Valencia in La Liga on Saturday as the hosts' disappointing season continued.

Marcelino's Valencia dominated the game but struggled to find a breakthrough, with Valladolid goalkeeper Jordi Masip saving Rodrigo Moreno's second-half penalty.

Santi Mina missed from close-range before Valencia captain Dani Parejo eventually put his side ahead in the 71st minute.

However, Alcaraz's brilliantly-hit equaliser in the 82nd minute kept Valencia provisionally ninth, upsetting frustrated fans in the Mestalla who whistled at their team at the end, while Valladolid are 15th.

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"I think the team had a great game but we were not very accurate in front of goal," said Rodrigo.

"I apologise to my teammates for missing the penalty. We have to keep working. The team did great work overall. We had three great chances, we are all a bit responsible (for not finishing them)."

HIGH-FLYING ALAVES EARN POINT AT GIRONA

Borja Baston earned high-flying Alaves a 1-1 draw at Girona after Cristhian Stuani's brilliant bicycle kick sent the hosts ahead.

Alaves, fourth with 32 points, hoped to put some distance between themselves and European champions Real Madrid, fifth on 30 points, who face Real Betis on Sunday.

However, Stuani's audacious early strike from Pedro Porro's cross sent Eusebio Sacristan's side ahead in an entertaining first half at Montilivi.

Baston levelled five minutes after the break, blasting home from close range after Jonathan Calleri's mis-hit shot looped into the air.

The forward came close to adding a second but could not finish at the back post under pressure from Ximo Navarro, while Choco Lozano had a chance to win it for Girona, provisionally eighth, but mistimed his header.

"The team never gives up, there's been a lot of games we've come back in. We got a point at a difficult ground," said Alaves striker Baston.

"We hope in the second half of the season we can keep adding up points, we'll keep working."