Villarreal lose to SD Eibar despite taking the lead in Ipurua
Villarreal lost their first LaLiga Santander match against SD Eibar today and saw their spectacular streak of 12 games unbeaten, between league (9) and UEFA Europa League (3) competitions, come to an end. The Yellows went ahead through a goal by Bruno Soriano from the penalty spot, but the Basque side came back to clinch the win in the second half, with goals by Ramis and Pedro León.
Fran Escribá opted for almost the same starting eleven that beat UD Las Palmas in their last LaLiga Santander match, with the only change being Samu Castillejo out on the right wing instead of Jonathan dos Santos.
The first half was very well-matched. Both teams were fighting for every ball and both created clear chances. The best of those for the Yellows came half an hour into the game. Samu Castillejo put a brilliant corner into the box, but Musacchio’s loose control was cleared by Ramis, from just a metre in front of the goal line.
That was the prelude to the opening goal though, that was scored from the penalty spot by the Yellows. After magnificent individual play by Bruno Soriano, he laid the ball off to Soriano and the number 20 put in a driven cross to Sansone, who shielded the ball from Lejeune inside the box. A clear penalty. The Submarine captain stepped up, tricked Riesgo completely and fired the ball into the back of the net.
Shortly after, it was Lejeune himself who tried to even things up with a marvellous long-range shot, but his effort was met with a phenomenal save by Sergio Asenjo.
The second half started with what could have been another penalty for Villarreal, but this time referee Fernández Borbalán waved away the penalty appeals. Luna brought down Víctor Ruiz, grabbing him by the waist, but the foul went unpunished.
Eibar had a dangerous chance just after an hour of play. Sergi Enrich hit a low shot, which Asenjo saved, and the rebound was struck at point-blank range by Kike, but his shot was also saved by the Villarreal number 1. Then, just a few seconds later, Asenjo kept out the locals again with another great stop after Pedro León’s shot. Incredible.
The Yellows’ number 1 could not do anything about the equalizer though. Ramis scored for Eibar after bringing down the ball with his chest and hitting his shot across goal and into the far corner of the net (m. 79). So with just over ten minutes left to play the locals levelled up the scoring. Then Eibar took the lead after a lethal counterattack. Sergi Enrich played the assist to Pedro León, who fired his shot past Asenjo from inside the penalty area.
Lineups:
SD Eibar: Riesgo; Capa (Arbilla, m. 72), Ramis, Lejeune, Luna; Pedro León, Dani García, Fran Rico, Inui (Rubén Peña, m. 88); Sergi Enrich and Kike (Adrián González, m. 80).
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario, Musacchio, Víctor Ruiz, Jaume Costa; Samu Castillejo, Bruno, Trigueros (Cheryshev, m. 91), Soriano (Jonathan dos Santos, m. 67); Sansone (Santos Borré, m. 78) and Bakambu.
Goals: 0-1. Min. 40: Bruno, de penalti. 1-1. Min. 79: Ramis. 2-1. Min. 86: Pedro León.
Referee: Fernández Borbalán (Andalusia, Spain). Cuationed: Pedro León and Sergi Enrich for the locals; Sansone, Víctor Ruiz and Samu Castillejo for the visitors.
Stadium: Ipurua.
