Villarreal fall to the side from Vitoria due to two early goals (0-2)
Villarreal lost to Alavés (0-2) in a match in which the Yellows were taken aback by the Basque side’s initial high tempo, as the visitors scored two goals in 17 minutes. From then on, Fran Escribá’s side tried everything but could not find the back of Pacheco’s net.
The first clear chance of the game fell to the Yellows. Castillejo played a fantastic one-two with Pato, but the number 19’s shot was just wide of the mark.
Alavés went ahead in the 7th minute. Edgar crossed the ball in from the right wing, and Deyverson’s subsequent header hit the post, but Ibai converted the rebound to beat Asenjo. The goal only spurred the Yellows on, as they went in search of the equalizer in earnest. And they almost got it a quarter of an hour in, with a double chance, first Castillejo’s shot narrowly missed and then Mario’s header almost opened the scoring for the Submarine, but Pacheco was equal to both attempts.
Then only seconds later Alavés got their second (0-2). Camarasa took advantage of a Villarreal defensive error and comfortably knocked the ball past Asenjo. The match took an uphill turn, but Villarreal kept on hunting down the Alavés goal. Just before the break the Yellows could have closed the gap with efforts by Mario, the right back’s shot across goal shaving the post, and Musacchio, whose attempt from inside the six-yard box went just over the bar.
Villarreal came out all guns blazing in the second half, in search of the goal that would get them back into the game. They almost scored from a fine Samu Castillejo free kick from the top of the box, but it was Pacheco again who kept out the Submarine with a stretching save.
Fran Escribá changed things up looking for a reaction from his players. Cheryshev, Bakambu and Jonathan dos Santos entered the field of play and the team had several goal scoring opportunities, although due to either a lack of accuracy or Pacheco’s saves the score line did not budge.
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario, Musacchio, Víctor Ruiz, Jaume Costa; Samu Castillejo (Jonathan dos Santos, m. 76), Bruno, Trigueros, Soriano (Cheryshev, m. 46); Sansone (Bakambu, m. 68) and Pato.
Deportivo Alavés: Pacheco; Kiko F. (Vigaray, m. 84), Pantic, Zou Feddal, Theo; M. Llorente, D. Torres; Edgar (Espinoza, m. 72), Camarasa, Ibai (Raúl C., m. 61); Deyverson.
Goals: 0-1. Min. 7: Ibai. 0-2. Min. 17: Camarasa.
Referee: Undiano Mallenco (Navarra, Spain). Cautioned: Jaume Costa and Bruno for the locals; D. Torres, Zou Feddal and Pantic for the visitors.
Stadium: El Madrigal.
