Villarreal and RCD Espanyol draw a hard-fought tie with chances for both teams
Villarreal CF drew in their visit to the RCDE Stadium (0-0). The Yellows took a point against RCD Espanyol in a hard-fought match that could have been won by either side.
For the match at the RCDE Stadium, Unai Emery lined up with a starting XI that showed continuity. Moi Gómez replaced Yeremy Pino in the ony change by the Basque manager from the Yellows’ league opener against Granada CF (0-0).
After a frenetic start by Espanyol to the game, Villarreal got control of the ball, trying to break down a well-organised home side with long spells of possession in the opposition half. The Catalan side were focusing on quick transitions and crosses into the box to try and break the stalemate
Despite the quick tempo in the match, there were not good chances for either team until the half-hour mark. Diego López brought down Moi Gómez in the box. It was a penalty. Incomprehensibly, the referee booked the Yellows footballer and VAR backed up his decision.
The Submarine grew into the first half. In its closing stages, Alberto Moreno and Alfonso Pedraza could have put the away side ahead, but Diego López made two good saves.
Villarreal started the second half well. In the 62nd minute, the Yellows went close to scoring at the RCDE Stadium. An Étienne Capoue header after a Moi Gómez cross ended up in the hands of Diego López.
After the halfway point in the second half, Emery looked to the bench to try and put fresh legs on the pitch for the closing stages. Pervis Estupiñán, Francis Coquelin and Dani Raba came on for Pedraza, Manu Trigueros and Alberto Moreno. The head coach’s subsitutions gave the Submarine wings, looking for the goal as the game was coming to its end.
With five minutes left of normal time, Arnaut Danjuma came on to the pitch. The Dutch attacker made his Villarreal debut at the RCDE Stadium.
As the game was almost up, Gero Rulli saved his side, keeping out a Raúl de Tómas effort at full stretch. In the 95th minute, Espanyol had the ball in the back of the net through Wu Lei, but the goal was ruled out for handball from the Chinese striker.
The match ended with Villarreal getting a point from their visit to Catalonia. The Submarine will return to LaLiga action on Sunday 29th August against Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano (10pm CEST).
Lineups:
RCD Espanyol: Diego López; Óscar Gil, S. Gómez, David López (K. Bare, m. 75), Cabrera, Pedrosa; Embarba, S. Darder (Morlanes, m. 85); Dimata (Wu Lei, m. 67), R.D.T, Puado (Melamed, m. 67).
Villarreal CF: Rulli; Foyth, R. Albiol, Mandi, A. Pedraza (Estupiñán, m. 61); Moi Gómez (Danjuma, m. 86), M. Trigueros (Coquelin, m. 61), Capoue (R. Peña, m. 86), Alberto M. (Raba, m. 74); Gerard, Dia.
Referee: Figueroa Vázquez. Booked: R.D.T, Óscar Gil, K. Bare (RCD Espanyol), Capoue, Moi Gómez, Alberto M., Mandi (Villarreal).
Matchday information: Game betwee RCD Espanyol and Villarreal CF, corresponding to Matchday 2 of the 2021/22 LaLiga season in front of an attendance of 11,095. Before the game, there was a minute’s silence in memory of the season-ticket holders of the home club who passed away last season.
