Villarreal celebrate their 101st birthday with an impressive win at the Benito Villamarín
What a way to win (2-3)! Villarreal turned the score around and claimed three golden points at the Benito Villamarín. The Yellows defeated Real Betis in a great game in which Betis took the lead on two occasions, but eventually ended in the Submarine’s favour, who continue climbing up the league ladder. They have now gone eight games unbeaten in LALIGA EA Sports. Three consecutive victories in the league.
After the European defeat in Marseille, the Submarine arrived at the Benito Villamarín with the aim of forgetting the Europa League and focusing on the league, where the Yellows had gone seven games without defeat.
Real Betis entered the game with intensity and a lot of presence in the opposition half. In the opening stages they subdued the Submarine, who began to stretch as the first half progressed.
Just as the score was levelling out on the pitch, Real Betis took the lead at the Benito Villamarín. In the 30th minute, Guido Rodríguez put Real Betis ahead with a header inside the six-yard box from Willian Carvalho’s flick on from a set piece.
The Submarine reacted to the Betis goal, quickly equalising in the 40th minute. Gerard Moreno slipped a spectacular pass into space for Sorloth, who, with Rui Silva in his sights, laid the ball off for Baena to score into an empty net.
Just before the break, Betis struck a painful blow in the form of a goal. The home side took the lead again in first-half stoppage time through Willian José. The Brazilian striker sent the ball into the net after a Pablo Fornals’ cross that almost went out of play.
The second half kicked off with Villarreal making it 2-2. The Yellows found the net thanks to a fantastic cross from Gerard Moreno, which Sokratis put through his own net. Minutes later, the Submarine reaffirmed their good start with another scoring chance. Gerard Moreno himself came up against Rui Silva minutes later after a pass to the far post from Álex Baena.
The game was becoming more and more of a head-to-head . In the 66th minute, Jorgensen saved Marcelino’s side with a superb save from Nabil Fekir. After the Danish goalkeeper’s intervention, Villarreal started a quick transition, led by Gerard, who passed for Alex Sorloth to shoot past Rui Silva and make it 2-3.
Just four minutes later, referee Hernández Hernández sent off Alberto Moreno and Chimy Ávila for a scuffle. Both teams were down to ten men at the Benito Villamarín. Faced with this new situation, Marcelino introduced a triple substitution to freshen up the team and try to manage the advantage on the scoreboard. Cuenca, Coquelin and Ilias Akhomach came on to replace Gerard, Traoré and Baena.
In the closing stages, Capoue came on for Comesaña and Mosquera for Kiko in search of more freshness and lungs for the Submarine. The minutes were ticking away for both teams and Villarreal had to manage the valuable advantage in such a difficult venue as the Benito Villamarín. With good defensive work and a lot of skill, the Submarine took a valuable victory at a tough ground to visit.
