Villarreal beat Valencia with goals by Paco Alcácer (penalty) and Parejo and lead LaLiga as it stands
A victory dedicated to the fans. Villarreal paint the derby yellow thanks to goals by Paco Alcácer from the penalty spot and Dani Parejo, who scored his debut goal for the Yellows (2-1). Valencia’s goal was scored by Guedes. With this result, Villarreal top the LaLiga table for the timebeing with 11 points from six games played.
Unai Emery went for a 4-3-3 again as it’s proved to work well in the opening league games. This time, with two new players in the starting eleven due to injuries. Pedraza replaced Estupiñán at left-back and Chukwueze took Gerard’s place up top.
The match started well for the Yellows. Chukwueze switched the play with a pass over the top to Pedraza. Who controlled the ball in the box and was brought down by Gabriel. Paco Alcácer opened the scoring from the penalti spot sending Jaume the wrong way (m. 5).
The Submarine dominated the possession of the ball and created danger, although Valencia looked to pounce on the counterattack. Villarreal could have extended their lead but Moi Gómez’s shot was too soft, then Chukwueze struck over the bar and Pedraza almost broke through forcing the Valencia goalkeeper to make a fine save to keep the score at 1-0.
Valencia equalised in the 36th minute with a tremendous long-range shot from Guedes from outside the area. And that’s how the scoreline remained at the break, with a goal apiece.
The excitiement continued in the second half. Unai Emery put Coquelin and Take into the game on the hour mark to give more energy to his side.
The Yellows then took the lead through Dani Parejo (2-1). The midfielder picked up the ball on the edge of the area where he was set up nicely by Take and made no mistake letting rip a bullet of a shot that went in off the underside of the crossbar (m. 68). What. A. Goal.
It was heart-racing stuff in the final minutes. Take got sent off after he was shown a econd yellow card for a foul on Carlos Soler in which he got to the ball first (m. 92). What’s more, Parejo went off with a niggling injury, but in spite of all that the scoreline stayed the same and it was victory for the Yellows on derby day.
Villarreal’s next match is against Sivasspor on Matchday 1 of the Group Stage of the UEFA Europa League at the Estadio de la Cerámica (Thursday 22nd at 9pm CEST).
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Albiol, Pau, Pedraza; Trigueros (Coquelin, m. 63), Iborra, Parejo (Jaume Costa, m. 96); Chukwueze (Take, m. 63), Paco Alcácer (Bacca, m. 81) and Moi Gómez.
Valencia CF: Jaume; Thierry (Jason, m. 83), Gabriel Paulista, Diakhaby, Gayà; Musah (Gameiro, m. 83), Wass (Racic, m. 83), Carlos Soler, Álex Blanco (Cheryshev, m. 52); Guedes (Manu Vallejo, m. 89) and Maxi Gómez.
Goals: 1-0. Min. 5: Paco Alcácer, de penalti. 1-1. Min. 36: Guedes. 2-1. Min. 68: Parejo.
Referee: Del Cerro Grande. Booked: Iborra and Pedraza for Villarreal; Gabriel Paulista for Valencia. Sent off: Take (m. 92) for Villarreal.
Information: Match corresponding to LaLiga Matchday 6 at te Estadio de la Cerámica. Villarreal CF captain, Mario Gaspar, wore a pink captain’s armband to support the fight against breast cancer. His team-mates wore pink tape too. For their part, Valencia’s players wore black armbands in memory of their team delegate, Bernardo España ‘Españeta’.
