Valencia's nightmare start to the season continues with bore draw against Osasuna

Ruben Baraja’s side had made their worst start to a season in 25 years after amassing a mere four points from their opening six La Liga games. They faced a Los Rojillos team which already had 10 on the board and only lost once in their previous four visits to the Mestalla.

It was the home side who worked the first opening, of the night as Pepelu’s eye-catching volley flew wide.

The rather subdued action on the pitch was suddenly sparked into life when Dani Gomez went down in the box following a collision with Sergio Herrera. However, referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias was unmoved and dismissed Valencia’s penalty appeals.

Down the other end, Giorgi Mamardashvili was perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty himself as he slipped and caught Raul Garcia's ankle in his attempt to make a clearance.

Valencia were looking the more likely to break the deadlock as the first half came to a close, but both teams only managed one shot on target between them heading into the break.

The pace of the match livened up after, and Herrera needed to be alert to thwart Andre Almeida at the near post using his feet.

Osasuna were showing plenty of endeavour themselves in their bid to break the deadlock, but Vicente Moreno’s side lacked the quality to significantly trouble Mamardashvili.

The hosts had managed to score in each of their last 20 meetings with Osasuna across all competitions but lacked the cutting edge themselves to continue that remarkable statistic on a frustrating evening.

Ante Budimir could have won the match late on for the visitors, but the Croatian headed over from an enticing delivery by Moi Gomez.

Ultimately, the points were shared to leave Baraja’s men with only one win from seven league games, while Osasuna leave Spain’s third city with a creditable point and a valuable clean sheet after conceding seven goals in their previous two away matches.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Sergio Herrera (Osasuna)