The Submarine defeats Levante with a brilliant performance in front of their home crowd
Villarreal beat Levante 3-0 and sit firmly in fourth place in the table after going 13 consecutive games without losing in the league; they beat their previous record last week after drawing with Atlético de Madrid in the Vicente Calderón stadium. The Yellows goals were scored by Leo Baptistao, Samu Castillejo and Adrián.
The Submarine got off to an intense start, passing the ball around well and lethal in attack. So it didn’t take long for the 1-0 to arrive. Leo Baptistao received the ball near the by line, he left David Navarro for dead and hit a hard, driven shot under Mariño’s legs (11th minute).
The Yellows were in control of the game and evidently so with the arrival of the second goal. Villarreal launched a dangerous counter attack that finished with Adrián’s driven cross finding the left foot of Samu Castillejo, who converted with a well-placed finish to make it 2-0 (30th minute). The Submarine were uncontrollable. In fact, they could have gone one more ahead shortly after with a Bailly cross from the right wing that found the head of Leo Baptistao, but his effort sailed wide.
Levante also had a chance half an hour into the match. After winning the ball in the middle of the pitch Morales was through and one on one against Areola, but his shot was met by a spectacular save from the Submarine goalkeeper.
The second half started successfully for the Yellows. Nahuel played an excellent long ball forward to Adrián who, squaring up to Mariño, placed his shot to the side of the goalkeeper and it went in off the post (3-0, 48th minute).
From there until the final whistle Villarreal were in charge of the game showing great quality and organization on the pitch. El Madrigal had a great time and the crowd even finished by doing the Mexican wave. A perfect match.
Line-ups:
Villarreal CF: Areola; Bailly, Musacchio (Víctor Ruiz, m. 46), Bonera, Adrián Marín; Nahuel, Trigueros (Pina, m. 69), Bruno, Samu Castillejo; Leo Baptistao and Adrián (Bakambu, m. 73).
Levante UD: Mariño; Lerma, David Navarro, Medjani , Toño; Morales (Xumetra, m. 71), Simao, Verza, Verdú (Cuero, m. 53); Rossi (Camarasa, m. 53) and Deyverson.
Goals: 1-0. Min. 11: Leo Baptistao. 2-0. Min. 30: Samu Castillejo. 3-0. Min. 48: Adrián.
Referee: Hernández Hernández (Gran Canaria, Spain). Cautioned: Lerma (m. 38) and Verza (m. 43); Sent off: David Navarro (m. 55) for the visitors.
Match Information: Match in correspondence with Match Day 26 of LaLiga BBVA, played in El Madrigal stadium. One minute of silence prior to the match in memory of the father of the Villarreal CF Physical Trainer, Ismael Fernández.
