Valencia have lost ground on the teams above them in La Liga after being held to a goalless draw by Athletic Bilbao.
Mistakes dominated a sloppy opening to the match, in which the only chance would fall to Valencia's Rodrigo, who dragged an effort just wide of the post after being picked out by Sofiane Feghouli.
Valencia improved as the first half progressed, but they wasted a great opportunity to break the deadlock when Paco Alcacer headed over the crossbar from Pablo Piatti's free kick.
Bilbao would struggle to create many chances of their own, despite seeing more of the ball as they came into the match with good spells either side of the interval.
Alcacer's frustrating night continued on the hour mark as he headed wide of the target after darting to the near post to meet Jose Gaya's inviting delivery.
A rare Bilbao opportunity would fall to Oscar de Marcos late on after Valencia failed to deal with a free kick into the box, but he could only head just wide under pressure at the back post.
Valencia were unable to force the breakthrough in the closing stages as Bilbao became the first team to avoid defeat at the Mestalla in La Liga this season.
Callum Mulvihill
