Parejo salvaged a point in the 94th minute in a game Villarreal deserved to win
Villarreal salvaged a point from their visit to Nuevo San Mamés. The Yellows equalised at the death in a game they deserved to win, but ineffectiveness in the first half and a dubious sending-off for Santi Comesaña at the start of the second half denied the Submarine, who were superior to their opponents overall.
In the build-up to the game, Villarreal CF gave Athletic Club’s squad a guard of honour after their recent Copa del Rey win. The Basque side showed off the trophy to a sold-out San Mamés, which was also filled to capacity with around a hundred yellow fans cheering on the Submarine in this tricky encounter.
Athletic Club gave the first warning of the game in the fifth minute. Yuri, from distance, attempted a powerful shot that Filip Jörgensen repelled without much difficulty.
In the 11th minute of the game, Álex Baena went down inside the area after a stamp from an Athletic defender. Cuadra Fernández, the match’s main referee, awarded the penalty after reviewing it on the VAR monitor, but Gerard Moreno, however, missed the spot-kick and Villarreal missed a magnificent opportunity to take the lead.
The Submarine did not give up and just three minutes later, Baena had another dangerous chance. After a great team move, Comesaña left a ball on the penalty spot where the Yellows No.16 arrived late into the box to strike, but a home defender cleared the ball off the line just as it was going in.
At half-time, despite the clear superiority of the Yellows, the score remained level.
The second half did not start well for Villarreal, who were reduced to ten men in the first minute of the half after Santi Comesaña was shown a second yellow card in a completely unintentional foul which, according to Cuadra Fernández, was deserving of another yellow card.
Marcelino was forced to change his team after the sending off. Gerard left his place on the pitch to Alfonso Pedraza in the 56th minute.
Athletic, as a result of the sending off, began to step on the field and, therefore, in the rival area. This led to Sancet’s goal in the 66th minute, which put Athletic ahead in the match.
Villarreal were insistently looking for an equaliser, but due to their numerical disadvantage, it was difficult for them to create chances that would trouble Unai Simón. However, in the 93rd minute Cuadra Fernández gave another penalty for Yuri’s handball inside the area. This time, Dani Parejo made no mistake to score the definitive 1-1 draw, which gave Villarreal a point based on belief, reflecting the work and effort put in today in Bilbao.
Villarreal will be back in action on Sunday 21st April, when they take on UD Almería at the Power Horse Stadium at 4:15, a match corresponding to Matchday 32 of the 2023/24 LALIGA EA SPORTS season.
