Valencia made life difficult for themselves against Real Betis tonight, but held their nerve to dig out a gutsy Primera Liga win at the Mestalla.
Unai Emery's side raced into a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes through David Villa and Juan Manuel Mata.
And they looked like they would win the game by a clear margin, but Juanma pulled a goal back for Betis 11 minutes after the break and Achille Emana equalised from the penalty spot not long after.
Things looked bleak for Valencia as Carlos Marchena was also dismissed for his foul which led to the spot-kick.
But the game took another twist as Ruben Baraja headed the winner 17 minutes from time to lift Valencia back into third place.
Betis came into this match as very much a team in form, having won five of their last six Primera Liga matches.
Valencia's form had been shaky in recent weeks, but Emery's side got off to a brilliant start when Villa swept home Edu's cross with style to give the home team the lead after just 10 minutes.
And 10 minutes later, Valencia went two up.
Edu was heavily involved again, this time releasing Mata with a perfectly-weighted pass which the youngster controlled neatly before firing past Betis keeper Casto Espinosa.
Edu has had a frustrating time since joining Valencia from Arsenal, missing long periods through injury, but the Brazilian was having an inspired game and almost set up Mata again after 22 minutes.
But the midfielder's bad luck struck once again five minutes before the break, when he picked up an injury and was forced to come off.
Valencia looked less impressive following his departure and Betis threatened through Damia shortly after the interval.
Renan Brito made a good save to deny the Catalan midfielder, but should have done better with Juanma's strike after 56 minutes.
The Betis midfielder played a one-two with Emana and beat Renan with a tame low shot, but the Valencia keeper will have been disappointed not to have made the save.
And seven minutes later, Betis were level.
Marchena brought down Sergio Garcia and Emana made no mistake from the spot.
The Spain defender was also sent off for the foul and there looked like there would only be one winner after that.
But Valencia regrouped and Baraja grabbed the winner after 73 minutes, when he headed home a free-kick.
Villa later crashed a shot against the crossbar as Valencia continued to compete on level terms, despite their numerical disadvantage.
And the home side held on for a hard-fought win which saw them climb back to third place in the league, five points adrift of leaders Barcelona.
Betis, meanwhile, dropped back into the bottom half of the table, only four points behind sixth-placed Deportivo La Coruna.
