Villarreal draw with Valencia in a very even encounter affected greatly by the stifling heat
Stalemate in an intense derby. Villarreal drew against Valencia at the Estadio de la Cerámica in an hard-fought derby on an extremely hot afternoon. The Yellows had enough chances to have won the game against their local rivals who went a man down after the sending off of Parejo in the 58th minute.
Javi Calleja made some changes to his side again with the demanding schedule in mind. In total, seven changes to the starting eleven that set up against Rangers FC. Once again, Ramiro Funes Mori occupied the defensive centre midfield position, Manu Trigueros was also chosen for the Yellows midfield. The Submarine played in a 4-4-2 with a double pivot in the middle of the pitch.
Villarreal were solid from the first minute. Focused in defence, working together to win the battle in the middle of the park and speed up front.
In the 27th minute, the Yellows had their first chance. Pablo Fornals played a magical ball for Miguel Layún, and the Mexican played the ball into the box, but Carlos Bacca was unable to make proper contact with his right leg, despite the Villarreal fans already on their feet ready to celebrate a goal. It is worth mentioning the spectacular atmosphere at the Estadio de la Cerámica, with 18,000 yellow flags sponsored by Á Punt being handed out.
Approaching half-time, the home side had another chance to get in front. This time it was from a corner played short by Trigueros to Layún, who found the head of Álvaro. The defender’s effort went just over the bar.
In the second part, the game saw a shock. Dani Parejo was shown a straight red card (m. 58) after a tackle on Funes Mori and Villarreal had more than half an hour to find the victory with their opponents a man down.
Despite the numerical advantage for the Yellows, Sergio Asenjo was still called into action. The Villarreal goalkeeper made a fantastic save, showing off his tremendous reflexes from a long-range effort from Gonçalo Guedes to keep the score level.
Calleja used the bench to try and grab the winner. One of the changes saw Santi Cazorla come on, with the former Arsenal man trying to find a bit of magic to unlock the Valencia defence. Despite the Yellows’ best attempts, the scoreline didn’t change.
The next Villarreal match will be this Wednesday against Athletic Club at San Mamés (8pm CEST).
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Álvaro, Víctor Ruiz, J. Costa (S. Cazorla, m. 72); Layún, Trigueros, Funes Mori, P. Fornals (Pedraza, m. 66); Gerard, Bacca (Toko Ekambi, m. 80).
Valencia CF: Neto; Piccini, Gabriel Paulista, Diakhaby, Gayà; Ferrán (Guedes, m. 55), Carlos Soler, Parejo, Cheryshev; Santi Mina (Batshuayi, m. 46), Gameiro (Coquelin, m. 60).
Referee: Jaime Latre. Booked: J. Costa, Layún, Funes Mori and Mario Gaspar (Villarreal); Diakhaby (Valencia). Sent off: Parejo (Valencia) Valencia manager Marcelino García Toral was also sent to the stands.
Match Information: Matchday 5 of LaLiga at the Estadio de la Cerámica in front of an attendance of 18,373.
