Gary Neville labelled referee Jesus Gil Manzano “a joke” after Valencia were beaten 3-0 at home by Athletic Bilbao in the Primera Division.

Gil Manzano waved away two penalty appeals from Los Che, one for a challenge by Xabier Etxeita on Andre Gomes in the first half and the second for a handball by Etxeita as he blocked a second-half header from Alvaro Negredo.

Sabin Merino opened the scoring for Athletic on 72 minutes with Iker Muniain and then former Valencia striker Aritz Aduriz notching further goals to condemn Neville’s side to their first defeat in five games.

The Englishman insisted he did not blame the referee entirely for the defeat, but certainly gave a damning assessment.

“Today, I thought the referee was a joke. It was embarrassing we didn’t get two penalties,” Neville said.

“I’ve not blamed referees in any of our games, but I thought his management of the game was awful. Some of the things he did were incredible. We’ve been a very soft coaching staff towards referees, we’ve tried to be respectful because we know its a difficult job, but I don’t understand how we didn’t have one of two penalties, one for Andre Gomes, the other for the handball.

“I don’t have a clue. And he booked three of our players and I don’t know how many fouls they had compared to us. There were three factors in the defeat: first the referee, secondly we missed chances, and third, we didn’t react to conceding the first goal.”

Elsewhere, Villarreal tightened their grip on the final Champions League spot with a comprehensive 3-0 win over 10-man Levante.

Leo Baptistao opened the scoring from an acute angle before Samu Castillejo ended his goal drought to make it 2-0. Adrian’s precise shot went in off the post to secure the points.

Youssef El-Arabi’s first-half penalty earned Granada victory in their basement battle at Deportivo