The points were shared in a match that could have been won by either side in the closing stages
Villarreal Women picked up a creditable point against Real Sociedad after a 1-1 draw at the Mini Estadi at the José Manuel Llaneza Training Ground on Saturday evening. The visitors took the lead in the first half through Emma; however, Lucía Gómez equalised in the 70th minute in a game that could have been won by Villarreal in the closing stages. Nonetheless, Sara Monforte’s side continue to climb the table and their current good form continues.
Villarreal Women hosted Real Sociedad, one of the best teams in the competition, in their best form of the season after three straight wins over Sporting Huelva, Real Betis and Valencia respectively. The Yellows would try to dream of a fourth win that would allow them to look even further away from the relegation zone against an opponent that had to win to stay in the fight for Europe.
Real Sociedad dominated the early stages of the game. Natalia Arroyo’s team pressed high up the pitch and, on several occasions, managed to steal the ball and create dangerous chances which, fortunately, did not end up finding the goal defended by Carmen Carbonell.
Villarreal Women were able to withstand the initial onslaught from the Txuri-urdin side and began to get into their opponents’ half. The first approaches from the Yellows came down the right flank, where an always active Kanteh repeatedly looked for McKenna, but Lete, the visiting goalkeeper, thwarted the attempts of the visitors.
Despite Villarreal’s good form in the middle of the first half, Real Sociedad took the lead in the 35th minute through Emma, who shot inside the box with her right foot after Raquel had attempted to reject the ball and deflected the ball into the area, making it impossible for Carmen to save.
At half-time, a solid Villarreal side were trailing to Real Sociedad by the narrowest of margins.
At the start of the second half the tables were turned and it was the home side who showed themselves superior to their opponents in the opening minutes.
In fact, they came close to equalising in the 55th minute when Kanteh, after some great individual play, put a ball into the box that was poisoned and was denied by the crossbar, thus preventing the Yellows from scoring.
Thaís Reiss, who had only recently been brought on, laid the ball off for Nerea, who slipped the ball into the heart of the box, where Lucía Gómez appeared in full flight to head the ball slowly into the Real Sociedad goal.
The Submarine grew with the goal and almost turned the game on its head shortly after the goal after a Claudia Iglesias played Kanteh through on goal, but her shot was saved by Lete.
In the 89th minute came one of the biggest stories of the game and of the season so far for Villarreal Women. Rocío García, 482 days later, was back on the pitch after overcoming the serious knee injury she suffered in October 2022.
In the end, Villarreal and Real Sociedad shared the points in a match that could have been won by either side in the final minutes.
