Villarreal equalize after Málaga’s opening goal and hold on after the sending off of Roberto Soriano
Villarreal picked up a hard-fought point against Málaga in a match that they had to make a comeback in, after Charles’ opening goal, and hold on to the draw after Roberto Soriano was sent off 20 minutes from time. Bruno Soriano’s goal from the penalty spot was the equalizer for teh Yellows and gave them the point.
The Submarine came out strong. Fran Escribá’s side were playing the ball around nicely and looking to find an opening in Málaga’s organized back line. Despite the Yellows dominance, it was the locals who scored first (0-1). Rosales crossed the ball in from the right wing and Charles got away from his marker and powered an unstoppable header past Asenjo (13th minute). The match took a turn uphill.
Villarreal kept working hard and only four minutes later, José Ángel put in a good cross from the left wing and Sansone came close to equalizing, but he could not make good contact with the ball. Shortly after Trigueros tried his luck with a shot from the top of the box, but his effort was met with a stretching save from Kameni.
After the first half an hour of play, Villarreal equalized but the goal was disallowed. After another shot by Trigueros was stopped by Kameni, Adrián was alert and smashed the ball into the back of the net, but the referee ruled the striker offside.
Villarreal’s relentless attack had its reward in the second half though. Sansone was brought down in the box by Rosales and Bruno took on the responsibility. The captain of the Yellow Submarine tricked Kameni with his spot kick and evened up the match.
The Yellows went all out to get the win, but this was made more difficult with the sending off of Roberto Soriano. The Yellows number 20 saw red after a challenge on Camacho (71st minute).
Despite playing with ten men, Villarreal still attacked, especially on the counterattack. It was like this that Samu Castillejo almost sent the Estadio de la Cerámica crazy. The number 19’s effort in injury time was saved by Kameni and just missed the right post.
Villarreal’s next match is this Thursday against AS Roma at the Estadio de la Cerámica, corresponding to te Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League (9:05pm CET).
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario, Álvaro, Víctor Ruiz, José Ángel; Jonathan dos Santos, Bruno, Trigueros (Rodrigo, m. 81), Soriano; Adrián (Bakambu, m. 68) and Sansone (Samu Castellejo, m. 76).
Málaga CF: Kameni; Rosales, Luis Hernández, Demichelis, Miguel Torres; Keko (Jony, m. 61), Camacho, José Rodríguez (Duda, m. 74), Chory Castro (Ontiveros, m. 81), Pablo Fornals; and Charles.
Goals: 0-1. Min. 13: Charles. 1-1. Min. 62: Bruno, penalty.
Referee: Vicandi Garrido (Basque Country, Spain). Cautioned: Charles, Camacho, Keko, Demichelis and Duda. Sent off: Soriano (m. 71) for Villarreal.
Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 22 of the LaLiga Santander, played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in front of 17,120 spectators. One minute of silence was held in honour of the victims of the Angola tragedy in the match between Santa Rita de Cássia and Recreativo do Libolo.
