Desperately late goals from Daniel Wass and Goncalo Guedes helped Valencia to a dramatic 3-1 win at local rivals Villarreal in their Europa League quarter-final first leg, as Los Che put one foot in the last four.

Javi Calleja's men recovered well after a woeful start and they went on to dominate most of the match, but they ran out of steam in the latter stages and Valencia finished them off ruthlessly with two goals right at the end.

Valencia put themselves ahead early on when Guedes reacted quickest to Dani Parejo's penalty being saved, but Villarreal soon took control and deservedly levelled with a spot-kick of their own – Santi Cazorla netting.

The visitors struggled to contend with the excellent Cazorla and Villarreal's dynamism in attack after half-time, but their imagination only went so far and they found themselves picked off, as Wass slammed a fine strike in before Guedes effectively ended the tie on the break in stoppage time.