Villarreal fall at the Anoeta after a great first half performance by the home side
It was a painful defeat for Villarreal at the Anoeta stadium tonight. A fragile Submarine, that suffered once again from having so many players unavailable, fell to a strong Real Sociedad side who were very clinical in the first half. In the end, the side from San Sebastian scored three past Villarreal, which is the Yellows’ second consecutive league defeat.
The problems began for the Submarine before kick-off. In the warm up Rukavina picked up an injury and so Fran Escribá had to make a change in the back line, choosing to play N´Diaye as a defender.
The locals had control of the game from the start and, conscious of the weakness in the Subamrine’s defence, started to attack ruthlessly. And that’s how Willian José opened the scoring. The Brazilian converted the rebound from a corner kick to put Real in front (1-0).
Unfortunately, that was just for starters. With hardly time for a breather, Real Sociedad struck again. In the 36th minute, and from another cross into the box, Xabi Prieto scored the second for the blue-and-whites. Then, just before the break, Juanmi made it three for the home side (3-0).
What’s more, Andrés injured his right knee during the play of the third goal (currently waiting for medical tests), which is why Barbosa had to come on for the Yellows.
At the start of the second half, Villarreal improved notably, starting to attack Real Sociedad’s goal, but the gap was too big to close. The Yellows had more possession of the ball, but the chances did not come. Real Sociedad focused on controlling the match and came close to extending their lead with a couple of dangerous chances towards the end, but the score line did not change.
Lineups:
Real Sociedad de Fútbol: Rulli; Odriozola, Elustondo, Raúl Navas (Agirretxe, m. 81), Kevin Rodrigues; Xabi Prieto, Illarramendi, Zurutuza; Oyarzabal, Juanmi (Carlos Vela, m. 65) and Willian José (Sergio Canales, m. 73).
Villarreal CF: Andrés (Barbosa, m. 46); Álvaro, Semedo, N’Diaye, Jaume Costa; Trigueros (Sansone, m. 79), Rodrigo, Castillejo, Fornals; Bacca (Enes Ünal, m. 69) and Bakambu.
Goals: 1-0. Min. 26: Willian José. 2-0. Min. 36: Xabi Prieto. 3-0. Min. 44: Juanmi.
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (Catalonia, Spain). Cautioned: Elustondo (m. 15) and Willian José (m. 38) for Real Sociedad; Jaume Costa (m. 2) and Trigueros (m. 66) for Villarreal.
Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 2 of the LaLiga Santander between Real Sociedad and Villarreal, played at the Estadio de Anoeta in front of 19,931 spectators.
