Finally.
It may have taken ten games, but Gary Neville has finally tasted La Liga victory as Valencia manager.
The former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit took charge of the struggling Spanish giants in December, but failed to make an immediate impact as Valencia slid down the table.
Neville appeared to reach his nadir when Barcelona trashed Valencia 7-0 in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, and the 40-year-old admitted ahead of Saturday evening’s game against Espanyol that it was a must-win fixture.
Fortunately for Gary, it proved 10th time lucky.
Valencia went behind in the 53rd minute, when Oscar Duarte gave the visitors the lead, only for Alvaro Negredo to equalise 17 minutes later.
Denis Cheryshev, the on-loan Real Madrid winger, popped up five minutes later to head home the winner and give Neville what will most likely be his best night’s sleep in about two months.
It was also the first time Valencia had taken the lead in the league during Neville’s reign.
His old Sky Sports pal Jamie Carragher was among the first to congratulate Neville on his first victory.
The former Liverpool defender compared Cherychev to Mark Robbins, the former Manchester United striker who is remembered for scoring the goal that helped keep Sir Alex Ferguson in the job during a bad spell back in 1990.
"Denis Cherychev is Spanish for Mark Robins! Well done Gary!"
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) February 13, 2016
