The Submarine put on a great show at the El Molinón and beat Sporting
A Yellow party at the El Molinón. Villarreal picked up a very important win on their visit to Sporting de Gijón (1-3), where the Yellows put in an impressive performance in the first half –with goals from Jonathan and Sansone- that was finished off with a goal by Pato in the second, who played his best match since his arrival at the club. As a result of this victory, Fran Escribá’s side move into fourth place and go into the Christmas break occupying a Champions League spot.
The Yellows put in a simply brilliant performance in the first half. Although the locals came out strong, the Submarine had their game plan clear from the start. Perfectly organized, Escribá’s men were winning the ball in the middle and hunting down Cuéllar’s goal in earnest.
In the 11th minute, Soriano put in a precise, driven cross from the left wing to Jonathan dos Santos, who hit a tremendous strike into the top corner. This early goal rocked the Asturians, as just a few minutes later Pato almost scored a second for the Yellows. It was a fantastic play in which the Brazilian went past four opponents, but unfortunately Cuéllar was equal to the number 10’s shot.
After 20 minutes on the clock, the second came for Escribá’s side. Yet again, more brilliance from Pato created the goal, after he skipped away from defenders with his speed and put an inch-perfect cross in to Sansone at the back post, who just had to tap the ball home.
Half an hour in, Jaume Costa got to the by-line and pulled back a pass to Sansone on the edge of the box, but the German-Italian was closed down quickly and his shot was off target. Then just before the break, in the 42nd minute, Pato conjured up some more of his magic, but the referee disallowed the Yellows’ goal.
In the second half, the locals started strong once again. Abelardo’s side pressured the Submarine and went in search of Asenjo’s goal right from the restart. For the first quarter of an hour, Sporting were piling on the pressure, but the Yellows were solid and did not let the locals through.
In the 65th minute the Yellows had another clear goal scoring opportunity. After Jonathan won the ball back in the middle and set up Sansone, but the striker’s powerful shot across goal was pushed wide by Cuéllar.
A quarter of an hour from the end, Pato finally got the reward he deserved. After Bruno Soriano won the ball back, the captain then played a brilliant, quick through ball to Sansone who, generously, passed it on to Pato to sentence the match (0-3).
In the 77th minute, ex-Yellow Moi, put Asenjo to the test with a bullet of a shot that the Yellow number 1 kept out with a one-handed save. In the final minutes, with the game already decided, Carmona closed the gap by scoring with his head in the 89th minute. In the end though, Villarreal took away another hugely important three points and go into the Christmas break in Champions League territory.
Lineups:
- Real Sporting de Gijón: Cuéllar; Douglas, Babin (m. 35, Burgui), Meré, Amorebieta (m. 62, Juan Rodríguez), Isma López; Carmona, Sergio Álvarez, Rachid (m. 35, Nacho Cases), Moi; and Cop.
- Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario, Álvaro, Víctor Ruiz, Jaume Costa; Jonathan dos Santos, Trigueros, Bruno, Soriano (m. 76, Rodrigo); Pato (m. 88, Leo Suárez) and Sansone (m. 80, Santos Borré).
- Goals: 0-1. Min. 11: Jonathan dos Santos. 0-2. Min. 19: Sansone. 0-3. Min. 73: Pato. 1-3. Min. 89: Carmona.
- Referee: Iñaki Vicandi Garrido (Basque Country, Spain). Cautioned: Amorebieta (m. 54), Nacho Cases (m. 59) for Sporting, and Roberto Soriano (m. 39) for Villarreal.
- Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 16 of the La Liga Santander between Sporting de Gijón and Villarreal CF played at the El Molinón stadium before 19,900 spectators.
