Villarreal bid farewell to the Europa League by winning and dominating the match vs AS Roma
Villarreal said goodbye to this season’s Europa League by winning the second leg and putting on a great show (0-1). The Yellows, despite getting knocked out, were far superior to AS Roma who relied on their advantage from the first leg (0-4) and, at times, were pinned back in their own half by a hardworking and sharp Submarine side. The final whistle signalled the end of the road for the Yellows in the Europa League, but they did not go out without a fight and put on a great display against one of the favourites to win the competition.
The Submarine had a great first half. The came out extremely motivated, despite the thrashing they received in the first leg, wanting possession at all times, a strategy that ended up working well and getting them a positive result. Fran Escribá’s side kept the Italian giants in their own half, who gave the ball up very easily.
In the 15th minute, and after a warning from Soriano who hit the crossbar moments before, Santos Borré took advantage of a mistake by Vermaelen in the box and hit an unstoppable, bullet of a volley past Allison and into the top corner.
On the half an hour mark, Rodrigo really tested Allison with a great strike from the top of the box. The Roma goalkeeper, alert, made a fine stretching save to keep out what could have been the Submarine’s second. In the 40th minute, Soriano tried his luck again from long range, with a driven shot, but Allison saved once again, pushing the ball wide for a corner.
In the second half, Villarreal kept up the pace, but the Italians started to wake up. In the 48th minute, Santos Borré had another clear chance as Soldado brought down a long ball and pulled his pass back to set up the Colombian, but Borré’s shot was met by the Roma keeper again.
The Yellow Submarine had plenty of goal scoring opportunities, some very clear, but they could not extend their lead. With twenty minutes left, Álvaro almost made it 0-2, but did not gett enough contact on his header after an exquisite ball in by José Ángel. Then, seven minutes later, in the 77th minute, Adrián was through after a brilliant ball by Bakambu.
In the 88th minute, and with the tie sentenced, Allison kept out two clear cut chances for Santos Borré, one after the other, both of which could have been goals. The Yellows may have lost on aggregate but they dominated the second leg.
Lineups:
AS Roma: Allison; Vermaelen, Manolas (Rüdiger, m. 46), Juan Jesús; Bruno Peres (Fazio, m. 83), Paredes, De Rossi (Nainggolan, m. 75), Mario Rui; Perotti, Totti and El Shaarawy.
Villarreal CF: Andrés Fernández; José Ángel, Bonera, Álvaro, Rukavina; Cheryshev (Bakambu, m. 72), Bruno (Jonathan dos Santos, m. 76), Rodrigo, Soriano; Soldado (Adrián, m. 65) and Santos Borré.
Goals: 0-1. Min. 15: Santos Borré.
Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany). Cautioned: Rodrigo for Villarreal. Sent off: Rüdiger for Roma.
