Villarreal draw with Athletic despite deserving more in a match where Gueye was sent off in the closing stages
Villarreal deserved more against Athletic (0-0), but had to settle for a bittersweet share of the points, which prevents them from closing the gap on the Red and Whites, despite the superiority shown at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Pape Gueye’s late dismissal and not being clinical in front of goal condemned the Groguets to a point that puts them back in fifth place, but prevents them from closing in on Athletic’s fourth place, which guarantees Champions League qualification.
Marcelino repeated with ten of the 11 players from last week’s 2-1 win over Getafe CF. The only change in the starting line-up was Kiko Femenía in place of Willy Kambwala.
The Yellows put in a fantastic first half, which only lacked a goal. With a great atmosphere in the stands, Marcelino’s side were far superior to Athletic in the first half. They started intensely, with the desire to win the game. In fact, they had chances to take the lead, although the lack of finishing prevented them from doing so.
The first big chance of the game fell to the Submarine. Sergi Cardona smashed his shot past Unai Simón after a good combination with Thierno Barry after the first quarter of an hour. Immediately after, Santi Comesaña made up a fantastic pass into space in the direction of Ayoze Pérez. The striker struck first time, but his shot, too far down the middle, was easily saved by Unai Simón.
The minutes were ticking away in a game that the Yellows were in control of. They tried to be direct, constantly looking to get in behind the Basque defenders. One of the best chances of the match came from Buchanan and Barry from a ball into space. Although a dubious offside flag invalidated the action, the Canadian tried to connect unsuccessfully with the French striker as he was heading towards Unai Simón.
Late in the first half, Foyth could have made it 1-0 from a corner and Athletic had their first chance on goal. Nico looked for his brother, Iñaki, on a counter-attack. Fortunately, the elder Williams failed to get a good shot off when he was waiting in the heart of the box.
With the score at 0-0, it was all to play for in the second half. The Submarine, who had made a commendable effort in the first 45 minutes, continued in the same vein of play. Again from a corner, Foyth had a chance to make it 1-0, but he missed by just inches.
In the 57th minute, Marcelino introduced Gerard and Yeremy for Buchanan, with physical problems after a challenge, and Ayoze Pérez. Later, Gueye (63′), Pedraza and Kambwala (78′) came on.
After the hour mark, the game opened up much more. Both sides knew that there was a lot at stake. More than just three points; the fight for the Champions League.
In the 68th minute, Thierno Barry failed to get on the end of Gerard’s low cross from the right in a clear chance to put the first on the scoreboard. And in the 75th minute, Thierno Barry had the ball in the back of the next but it was disallowed due to a handball by the yellow ’15’ himself. Luck was eluding Villarreal.
So much so that in the 83rd minute the Submarine were down a man. Melero López sent off Pape Gueye for leaving his studs in an action in which the Senegalese arrived earlier. A very harsh decision, which condemned the Yellows to look less forward in the closing stages of the game.
Despite being down to ten men, Marcelino’s side sought to break the deadlock in the Champions League until the final whistle. The goalless draw sees Villarreal’s fight for fourth place take a significant hit.
