Gary Neville celebrates first league win as Valencia boss

Hosts Valencia fought their way back from Oscar Duarte's opening goal for fourth from bottom Espanyol with strikes from Alvaro Negredo and Denis Cheryshev in the final 19 minutes.

"The fans were amazing, above all when we went behind they stuck with us," said former England and Manchester United defender Neville.

"When Espanyol scored we responded with better play and that's because of how the fans supported the team. We knew that it was going to be a night of emotion."

Former England and Manchester United defender Neville celebrated his first win in 10 La Liga matches in charge after substitute Negredo equalised in the 71st minute and Cheryshev, on loan from Real Madrid, headed the winner five minutes later.

Neville continually praised the Mestalla faithful for their support.

"It's not down to tactics, it's not down to the coach, it's down to the fans and the way they responded after the goal.

The game turned into an emotional game, the fans were pushing us forward, throwing us forward. We suffered a little bit but got there in the end and that's the important thing."

Neville also announced that Pako Ayesteran, Rafael Benitez's former assistant coach at Valencia and Liverpool, is to join his coaching staff with immediate effect.

"He's not to replace current staff, I just wanted to bring in someone with experience alongside me. Please don't interpret this as a problem in any way. I've been speaking to Paco for the last 10 days."

Valencia are 11th with 28 points. Espanyol, without a win in eight matches under Constantin Galca, remain one place and one point above the relegation zone with the Romanian's job hanging by a thread.

Villarreal consolidated their hold on fourth place with a 1-0 home win over Malaga courtesy of Roberto Soldado's first- half goal.

They are 11 points ahead of Sevilla, who are at home to Las Palmas on Sunday, and 13 in front of sixth-placed Bilbao.