Villarreal draw and look good against Olympique Lyonnais in the second match of pre-season at Pinatar Arena
Villarreal CF today drew their second pre-season friendly of the 2021/22 season against Olympique Lyonnais (2-2) at the Pinatar Arena. Unai Emery lined up for the second preparatory game of the summer with the following line up: Asenjo; Rubén Peña, Albiol, Mandi, Pedraza; Moi Gómez, Coquelin, Capoue, Nikita; Yeremy, Dia.
Étienne Capoue had the first chance of the game seconds into th e match, with a powerful shot from the edge of the box, saved well by Pollersbeck. The Submarine dominated early on, but Olympique Lyonnais went ahead on the scoreboard thanks to a Jean Lucas goal after eight minutes. The Brasilian’s low right-footed effort was out of reach for Sergio Asenjo.
Emery’s team looked for the draw, peppering the French team’s goal with efforts. Boulaye Dia was very active on his first appearance in a yellow shirt. Moi Gómez made it 1-1 for Villarreal in the 23rd minute. The midfielder’s powerful lefto-footed effort beat the Lyon goalkeeper, after a great run and assist by Alfonso Pedraza.
One of the most dangerous chances in the first half came from Nikita Iosifov. In his first appearance for the Submarine, the Russian showed his quality and could have made it 2-1 on the scoreboard on the half-hour mark, but his effort went just wide. However, on 38 minutes, Dia gave the Yellows the lead, after a great cross from the right from Rubén Peña, with Villarreal’s new signing heading it home. However, the French side responded quickly, and drew level at the Pinatar Arena just before the break. Aouar made it 2-2 with a side-footed volley.
After the half-time break, Emery made various changes to the side, with Gero Rulli, Mario Gaspar, Jorge Cuenca, Alberto Moreno, Dani Parejo, Manu Trigueros, Manu Morlanes and Fer Niño coming on, with Aissa Mandi, Nikita and Yeremy Pino staying on. Lyon made no changes after the interval
Parejo had the first chance of the second half, which was dominated by Villarreal. Nikita was energetic once more, having a number of dangerous chances, alongside Fer Niño. The Russian was substituted in the 64th minute, with Haissem Hassan and Javi Ontiveros replacing him and Yeremy.
For the final stages of the game, Peter Bosz made a few changes for Lyon, with Mendes and Kone replacing Aouar and Henrique. Villarreal continued looking for the third goal to give them the victory in the second half. Hassan was close late on, but his shot went high over the bar. Finally, the game ended with a draw, and good feelings for Emery’s men at the Pinatar Arena.
Villarreal CF’s next friendly in pre-season will be on Saturday 24th July at 8pm CEST against Budapest Honvéd at the Bozsik Arena (Budapest), in a game that will be the inauguration of Hungary’s first UEFA Elite Stadium.
Lineups:
Olympique de Lyon: Pollersbeck; Gusto, Da Silva, Lukeba, Henrique; Jean Lucas, Caqueret, Aouar; Toko Ekambi, Dembélé, Cherki. Also played: Thiago Mendes ,Youssouf Kone.
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Rubén Peña, Albiol, Mandi, Pedraza; Moi Gómez, Coquelin, Capoue, Nikita; Moi Gómez, Dia. Also played: Rulli, Mario Gaspar, Cuenca, Alberto Moreno, Morlanes, Parejo, Trigueros, Fer Niño, Haissem Hassan, Ontiveros.
Goals: 1-0. Min. 8: Jean Lucas. 1-1. Min. 23: Moi Gómez. 1-2. Min. 38: Dia. 2-2. Min 44: Aouar.
Referee: Juan Antonio Campos Salinas. Booked: Pedraza, Morlanes (Villarreal).
