Alavés snatched a point from Villarreal in added time of the match (2-1)
Villarreal lost away from home against Deportivo Alavés (2-1) in a competitive encounter that the Yellows took the lead in early on through a Gerard Moreno goal. Nevertheless, Alavés, who equalized at the start of the second half, clinched the win with a late goal in stoppage time.
Javi Calleja’s side started the game at Mendizorrotza with clear intentions. The Yellows took control of the ball and were the first to strike. Looking sharp in the attacking third, the Yellow Submarine took the lead with their first clear chance on goal. In the 10th minute, a clairvoyant Santi Cazorla played a ball into space for Pedraza, who after doing well to get away from his defender played a great pass on to Gerard Moreno, who in turn made no mistake in front of goal and opened the scoring for Villarreal (0-1).
The Submarine’s opener provoked a response in the home side. In the 25th minute, Alavés came close to equalising with a good effort by Calleri after a clearance from a corner kick. Jaume Costa cleared the ball when it was centimetres away from the goal line.
With no more clear goal scoring opportunities, the whistle blew for half-time and the Yellows were up by one. In the second half, Alavés came out with good intensity and created the first chances. First to strike was Rúben Sobrino after some great play by ex-Yellow Tomás Pina in the box, but his effort missed the mark. Moments later, Alavés levelled things up from a set piece, Jony crossed the ball in and this time Calleri connected well and sent the ball into the back of Sergio Asenjo’s net.
After initial pressure by the white and blues, the match became an end to end battle. The Yellows boss, Javi Calleja, looked to stretch his side vertically by bringing on Toko Ekambi.
In the 85th minute, Ibai struck the crossbar with a powerful shot. Immediately after, Villarreal responded through Gerard Moreno, who was off target with a shot from the middle of the box.
In injury time, Alavés pounced on a loose ball in the box and scored their second to leave a hardworking and purposeful Villarreal unrewarded.
Lineups:
Deportivo Alavés: Pacheco; Aguirregabiria, Navarro (Maripán, m. 59), Laguardia, Duarte; Ibai (Bastón, m. 92), Wakaso (Manu García, m. 81), Pina, Jony; Sobrino and Calleri.
Villarreal CF: S. Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Álvaro, Funes Mori, J. Costa; S. Cáseres (Raba, m. 95), M. Trigueros (Iturra, m. 82), S. Cazorla (Toko Ekambi, m. 65), P. Fornals, Pedraza; Gerard.
Goals: 0-1. Min: 10. Gerard Moreno. 1-1. Min. 50: Calleri. 2-1. Min. 93: Borja Bastón.
Referee: Cuadra Fernández. Booked: Duarte for Alavés and Funes Mori for Villarreal.
Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 10 of LaLiga played at Mendizorrotza in front of 16,956 spectators.
