The B team, who tried until the end, lost in a hard-fought match
Villarreal B went down to Albacete BP in Saturday afternoon’s match at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Diego Collado’s opener was not enough for the Yellows, who were pegged back by goals from Djetai and Juanma as Albacete took all three points from Vila-real.
Albacete, after ten minutes of tentative exchanges between the two sides in which neither side was clearly dominant, were the first to make a tentative approach to their opponents’ goal. In the 12th minute, Manu Fuster tried a long-range shot that did not trouble Iker Álvarez.
Villarreal B took control of the ball and went from strength to strength in the match, and around the half-hour mark they found the goal. Diego Collado went one-on-one with Altube in the box and went past him to finish at his leisure. The Yellows No.7 put the Mini Submarine ahead.
The goal did the Yellows good, and in no uncertain terms, as they went in search of a second immediately. In fact, only the VAR was going to deny them, as, after a textbook counter-attack by Migue Leal, Carreira beat Altube in a one-on-one. The Galician, however, was in an offside position by the narrowest of margins.
When it seemed that the first half was going to end with a momentary victory for Miguel Álvarez’s boys, Albacete took advantage of a corner to equalise again through Djetai in the 45th minute.
Villarreal B and Albacete BP were level at the end of the first half.
The team from La Mancha struck again at the start of the second half. Juanma, with a powerful shot, put the ball between Iker Álvarez’s legs to put his side ahead.
Miguel Álvarez moved the bench looking for a reaction from his team. Carreira, Lozano and Carlo came off the bench to bring on Ontiveros, C. Romero and Pacheco.
Dela, in the 79th minute, came close to tying the game again with a long-range shot that went just over the crossbar.
With ten minutes to go, Fer Niño and Álex Forés came on to give the Mini Submarine more attacking firepower as they searched insistently for the equaliser.
In the end, Villarreal B lost 1-2.
Lineups:
Villarreal B: Iker Álvarez; M. A. Leal, Dela, Abraham, Tasende (min. 82, Forés); Carreira (min. 72, C. Romero), Del Moral, Carlo (min. 72, Pacheco), S. Lozano (min. 72, Ontiveros); D. Collado, A. Millán (min. 82, Fer Niño).
Albacete BP: Altube; C. Isaac, Djetei, Boyomo, Glauder (min. 74, Julio Alonso); Juanma (min. 85, Fran Álvarez), Riki, Olaetxea (min. 85, Rodrigo), Dubasin; Higinio (min. 74, Ros), Manu Fuster.
Goals: 1-0. Min: 26: D. Collado. 1-1. Min. 45: Djetai. 1-2. Min. 58: Juanma.
Referee: Trujillo Suárez. Booked: Tasende (Villarreal B); Boyomo (Albacete BP)
Matchday information: Game between Villarreal B and Albacete BP, corresponding to Gameweek 37 of the 2022/23 LaLiga SmartBank season at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Attendance: 4760.
