Villarreal tried to equalise in stoppage time in a game that had become an uphill struggle
Villarreal lost to UD Las Palmas at the Estadio de la Cerámica (1-2). The Submarine conceded a goal before half-time and another immediately afterwards. Two hard blows on a psychological level that reduced the work of Pacheta’s team. With almost the whole of the second half ahead of them, the Submarine tried to fight back. Only in stoppage time, and after a wonderful goal by Gerard, did the Yellows really come close to making it 2-2.
The Submarine went into the game against Las Palmas looking to take advantage of a fantastic opportunity to get back to winning ways in LALIGA after Thursday’s invaluable and encouraging 1-0 victory over Stade Rennais in Europe.
Pacheta introduced some changes to the starting eleven. Ben Brereton Díaz came in, while Manu Trigueros kept his place. New variations with the aim of dominating the game and successfully finding the opposing goal.
In the opening stages, Villarreal were vertical. With Sorloth and Brereton, the Submarine were finding the formula to run into space and hurt their opponents. Before reaching the midway point of the first half, Sorloth picked up a good ball into space and, in the face of opposition from Valles, laid the ball off for Ben Brereton, who was unable to control a ball that was pushed away by the opposition defence. It was a narrow miss.
In the 25th minute, Sorloth – utterly omnipresent – met a corner in a fantastic position to put his side ahead. The Norwegian’s header went just wide of the post.
In the last action before the break, Las Palmas made it 1-0 with a free kick from Coco from someway out.
If the first half had not ended well for Villarreal, the second half started in the same way. Right at the start, the referee awarded a penalty for handball by Mandi. From the penalty spot, Marc made it 0-2.
It was a very difficult task for Villarreal, who had to fight back from a two-goal deficit. In order to try to do the job, Pacheta moved the bench and introduced Morales, Kiko, Alberto and Ilias. Later on, Gerard Moreno even came on.
In the 70th minute, Sorloth again came close to scoring with a header from a corner at the far post. Luck eluded Villarreal, who scored through Morales to make it 1-2, only to see it cancelled out for a very slight offside.
In stoppage time, Gerard Moreno pulled one back with a stunning left-footed strike from long range. However, it was not enough to earn a positive result at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Jorgensen; Foyth, R. Albiol (I. Akhomach, m. 66), Mandi, A. Pedraza (Alberto M., m. 58); Yeremy (A. J. Morales, m. 46), Parejo, Capoue, Brereton Díaz (Kiko F., m. 58); M. Trigueros (Gerard, m. 75), Sorloth.
UD Las Palmas: Á. Valles; Álex Suárez, Coco, Mika Mármol, Cardona; M. Haddadi (C. Herrera, m. 88), Javi Muñoz (Jonathan Viera, m. 75), Loiodice (Perrone, m. 75), Kirian, Pejiño (Sory Kaba, m. 58); Marc (Marvin, m. 58).
Goals: 0-1. Min. 45+2: Coco. 0-2. Min. 51: Marc (p). 1-2. Min. 90+2: Gerard.
Referee: Muñiz Ruiz. Booked: Yeremy, Parejo, I. Akhomach, Capoue (Villarreal CF), Marvin, Kirian (UD Las Palmas).
Matchday information: Game between Villarreal CF and UD Las Palmas, corresponding to Gameweek 9 of the 2023/24 LALIGA EA Sports season, at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Attendance: 16,249.A minute’s silence was held in the memory of Guillermo Sanchis, the Villarreal CF priest.
