The Submarine lose to Sporting CP in their fifth pre-season friendly
Villarreal were unable to get the better of Sporting Portugal in their fifth friendly of the pre-season, losing 3-0 at the Estádio José Alvalade in the Trofeo Cinco Violinos. Quique Setién’s side dominated and had clear chances in the first half, but organisation, success on the counter-attack and the home side’s finishing ended up ruining the Submarine’s work in the second half.
In the first half, the home side gave the ball away almost from the start in the hope of stealing the ball and getting on the counter-attack, but the Submarine also played their cards right. Well positioned in midfield, Setién’s side exploited the flanks to create danger without taking their eyes off the Lisbon side, who tried to break through with constant through balls that forced the defence to work hard.
The yellow danger came in the form of two disallowed goals. The first was Gerard Moreno, goal after a great header from a good Villarreal team move. The second, also disallowed for offside, came after a move on the wing by Morales. It was also the winger who hit the crossbar with a fierce shot just after the half-hour mark.
Unfortunately, it was the Portuguese who eventually took the lead. On the stroke of half-time, Edwards, after some great individual play, beat Jorgensen with a hard shot from the left to make it 1-0 to the home side.
After the restart, the plan that Setién’s men had managed to abort in the first half worked for Sporting CP. With speed and very comfortable on the counter-attack, the green-and-whites managed to widen the gap in the 71st minute with a good goal by Pedro Gonçalves, which was confirmed minutes later by Paulinho with the third and definitive goal.
Villarreal’s next commitment will be next weekend in England with the Sela Cup at St. James Park. The Yellows will face OGC Nice first (Saturday 5th, 1:30pm CEST) and Newcastle -the hosts of the tournament- second (Sunday 6th , 5pm CEST).
Lineups:
Sporting Clube de Portugal: Adán; Matheus, Coates, Morita, Pedro Gonçalves, Giökeres, Edwards, Trincao, Gonçalo Inácio, Esgaio y Quaresma. También jugaron: Paulinho, Geny, Franco Israel, Diomande, Bragança, Luis Neto, Cabral.
Villarreal CF: Jorgensen (Reina, min. 69); A. Alti, Mandi (Abraham, min. 69), J. Cuenca (Gabbia, min. 46), Alberto M. (Tasende, min. 69); Santi C.V. (V. Moreno, min. 69), Parejo (M. Trigueros, min. 69), R. Terrats (Álex B., min. 69); Gerard (Denis Suárez, min. 46), A. J. Morales (Capoue, min. 46), Sorloth (Brereton Díaz, min. 46).
Goals: 1-0. Min. 43: Edwards. 2-0. Min. 71: Pedro Gonçalves. 3-0. Min. 75: Paulinho.
Referee: Halim Shirzad.Booked: Matheus (Sporting CP); Parejo, Cuenca (Villarreal)
Matchday information: The final of the Troféu Cinco Violinos, between host club, Sporting Club de Portugal, andVillarreal CF at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Fifth match of pre-season for Quique Setién’s men.
