Espanyol entered this match having failed to pick up a single point at RCDE Stadium, while Valencia hadn’t earned any in away matches, so something had to give.
The hosts were the stronger starters but Los Che had the first big chances. Edinson Cavani failed to work Alvaro Fernandez from two promising opportunities, which arrived on either side of Samuel Lino’s tame shot being saved after he’d broken through brilliantly.
Martin Braithwaite then made a burst up the pitch before smashing an effort that Giorgi Mamardashvili did well to stop.
After that flurry of goalmouth activity in the opening quarter-hour, there wasn’t too much more throughout the rest of the half as the game descended into a scrappy affair with 12 fouls being given in the 20 minutes before HT.
Valencia had the best chances and Jose Gaya found Gabriel Paulista with one of those free-kicks in the 41st minute, but the centre-back couldn’t get his header on target.
The game sprung to life in the 54th minute, as Paulista did brilliantly to reach Gaya’s corner and this time scored with a fantastic header that Fernandez flicked onto the post but couldn’t keep out.
Joselu then provided the swiftest of responses by curling a wonderful effort in off the post for his fourth goal of the season. With 83 minutes on the clock, captain Sergi Darder stepped up to wrongfoot Mamardashvili with an ambitious strike for what many expected to be the winner.
The chaos resumed, though, as Marcos Andre and Braithwaite were handed red cards in two separate incidents, making it a total of six red cards in the last four matches at RCDE Stadium.
Fernandez then made a complete mess of what should have been a harmless ball from Eray Comert in the 96th minute, allowing it to float into the top corner as Valencia earned their first draw of the season in a bizarre fashion.
Meanwhile, Espanyol ended a run of two consecutive defeats but still await their first home win since April.