Valverde "It's an important boost"

Ernesto Valverde singled out the character shown by Athletic Club as they notched a second consecutive LaLiga win by beating Valencia 1-2 at Mestalla on Saturday night.

The Lions had to fight back after going 1-0 down on 16 minutes. Nico Williams pulled Athletic level with a fantastic solo goal and Oihan Sancet completed the comeback 20 mintues from time with a calm finish in the box.

"It was a clash just as we expected: strange. We knew we were playing a team under a lot of pressure because of their recent results and everything else that surrounded this match," Valverde said during his post-match press conference.

"We did everything right and got three points. It's an important boost in a season where all is proving to be very evenly matched."

Valverde compared Saturday's win with that achieved two weeks earlier in the Copa, noting how the Zurigorri were made to work harder for their victory this time.

He added: "We'll celebrate the win. In the Copa we were superior but today was a much tighter match. We had to fight for every point."