Villarreal draw against Huesca after playing half an hour with a man down
Just seconds away. Villarreal came so close to victory against Huesca at El Alcoraz in an emotional rollercoaster of a match. The side from Huesca took the lead through ‘Cucho’ Hernández from the penalty spot, the Yellows equalised with a goal from Bacca also from a penalty and then Gerard put Villarreal in front ten minutes from time. When it seemed that the Yellow Submarine would be taking away the three points, Huesca had the final say with Longo making it 2-2 in the last minute of injury time. Mario Gaspar’s sending off after a double yellow (m. 64) meant Villarreal had to play the last half an hour of the game with ten men.
Luis García made four changes to the starting eleven in comparison with the side that set up against Spartak Moscow last Thursday at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Asenjo played in goal, Funes Mori came into the side at centre back, Trigueros in the middle of the park and Carlos Bacca up front.
The first chances of the match fell to Villarreal. Samu Chukwueze created plenty of danger down the right wing from the off. He was the first to test Jovanovic with a weak strike and moments later some spectacular individual play saw him get by Huesca’s defenders and put a dangerous ball in across the six-yard box, but his teammates could not get on the end of it.
Close to the half an hour mark the Submarine scored, but the goal was disallowed. Carlos Bacca was ruled offside.
It seemed that the first half was going to finish 0-0, but just before the break the referee pointed to the penalty spot after a scuffle between Trgiueros and Melero in the box. ‘Cucho’ Hernández converted the spot kick for the locals to open the scoring.
Villarreal equalised in the same way, from the penalty spot. Gerard Moreno let rip a powerful strike from the top of the area and the rebound from Jovanovic’s save was pounced on by Carlos Bacca. The Colombian striker got to the ball first and was then brought down by the Huesca keeper. After consulting VAR, referee Medié Jiménez awarded the penalty to Villarreal and Bacca made no mistake from 11 metres out (1-1, m. 62).
With no time to even take it all in, the third penalty of the match was given. This time the referee gave a foul against Mario on Melero in the box, Medié Jiménez sent the Villarreal captain off for a second yellow card and the Huesca captain took responsibility for the penalty kick. Asenjo guessed Melero’s intentions though and made a sublime save to his right.
The match had taken an uphill turn but the Yellows kept fighting and in the 80th minute the game swung in their favour. Gerard Moreno made it 1-2 for the Submarine with a fantastic finish. Alfonso Pedraza put in a dangerous driven ball across the face of Jovanovic’s goal and Moreno threw himself at it to get on the end of it, sliding to meet the ball and put it past the Huesca goalkeeper with the outside of his left boot. A hugely important goal.
The definitive 2-2 scoreline was sentenced in the 94th minute. In a scrappy play which Asenjo made a fantastic save at his near post, the ball found its way back into the box and Longo poked the ball home from point-blank range. Gutting.
Lineups:
SD Huesca: Jovanovic; Miramón, Insua (Camacho, m. 87), Etexita, Pulido; Ferreiro, Melero (Longo, m. 78), Rivera, Moi Gómez; Ávila (Gürler, m. 68) and ‘Cucho’ Hernández.
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Álvaro, Funes Mori, Jaume Costa; Chukwueze (Javi Fuego, m. 84), Cáseres, Trigueros (Layún, m. 68), Fornals; Gerard and Bacca (Pedraza, m. 73).
Goals: 1-0. Min. 43: ‘Cucho’ Hernández, de penalti. 1-1. Min. 62: Bacca. 2-1. Min. 80: Gerard. 2-2. Min: 94: Longo.
Referee: Medié Jiménez (C. Catalán). Booked: Ávila, Insua, Pulido and Longo for Huesca; Trigueros and Bacca for Villarreal. Sent off: Mario Gaspar (m. 64).
Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 16 of LaLiga played at El Alcoraz.
