Villarreal rescue a point from the Valencian capital after playing with a man down for 25 minutes
Villarreal got a point from their visit to Mestalla (1-1). The Yellows drew against Los Che in a match which was affected by Pape Gueye’s expulsion halfway through the second half. Marcelino’s side, with a lot of absentees, dug in during the second half and got a point thanks to Ayoze Perez’s goal just before half-time, which neutralised Hugo Duro’s opener.
Villarreal went to Mestalla having won two of their first three games and were comfortably in the upper zone of the table. On the other hand, the home team faced the match with a greater need, having not picked up a single point in their first league games.
The Groguets were without some very important players. Marcelino was unable to count on Gerard Moreno, Nicolas Pepe, Juan Foyth, Alfonso Pedraza, Eric Bailly, Willy Kambwala and Denis Suárez due to injury, and Álex Baena, who was away for a break after not being able to enjoy his holidays during the summer due to the European Championship and the Olympic Games. With so many absentees, the head coach had to call up six players from the B team to fill the squad: Etta Eyong, Pau Cabanes, Dani Requena, Pau Navarro, Antonio Espigares and Arnau Solà.
Both teams showed great respect for each other in the early stages of the game. They alternated possession in the opposition’s half, without creating any great scoring opportunities. The Submarine’s attackers were getting the ball behind the defenders’ backs, but the midfielders were unable to connect good passes into space.
In the 24th minute, Hugo Duro put Valencia ahead with a cross at the far post from a corner. The goal went in with some suspense after the action was reviewed for a couple of minutes for a possible positional offside by Diego López. A leg from Logan Costa played the striker onside.
The Submarine were not comfortable on the ball and could not find their strikers. With 1-0 on the scoreboard, Valencia -who scored from their first chance of the game- were not troubling the away side’s area either.
In the final stretch of the half, Villarreal had their best chance so far. Ayoze headed into the heart of the box from Yeremy’s cross from the right. His shot, although promising, went wide.
The Yellows improved their play in the closing stages. So much so that, in the last move of the first half, the Submarine equalised when Ayoze scored from the edge of the area. The player from Tenerife received a magnificent assist from Santi Comesaña, who received between the lines and played his first touch with great talent. 1-1 at half-time at Mestalla.
At the half-time break, Marcelino took off Dani Parejo, bringing on Ilias Akhomach. Fresh legs
On returning from the changing rooms, Marcelino replaced Dani Parejo and brought on Ilias Akhomach. Fresh legs and a lively approach to hurt Valencia in the second half. The Sybmarine’s first dangerous move of the second half came through the boots of the Morocco international. He got away from Jesús Vázquez in a one-on-one situation, went into the box and laid the ball off for Barry, who smashed the ball past Mamardashvili. The Groguets were also unsuccessful with the rebound, which fell to Yeremy Pino.
Villarreal started the second half better, but went losing strength as the minutes went on due to fatigue. The lack of experienced alternatives from the bench due to a number of absentees for the Groguets made things difficult for Marcelino. Even more so, when in the 68th minute, Villarreal were left with ten men after the sending off of Pape Gueye, who saw a second yellow card after stopping a counter attack.
Terrats came on for Yeremy to strengthen the middle of the pitch. A minute after the Yellows were left a man down, Luis Rioja hit the post after getting on the end of a cutback from Foulquier. Mestalla got behind their men and Marcelino’s side had to suffer, dig in and defend with numerical disadvantage.
The Groguets tried to keep the score as it is, as Valencia brought on fresh faces off the bench. With a lot of hard work, the Submarine held on to the draw and got an important point at Mestalla.
