The French-Cameroonian striker, who got himself on the scoresheet again, equalised against Montpellier
Villarreal drew with Montpellier (1-1) in the final minutes of the match thanks to a fantastic header by Ekambi, who made the most of an inch-perfect cross by Miguelón to avoid defeat by the French side and net his second for the Yellows.
The Submarine started the match brightly. Despite the poor pitch conditions, Javi Calleja’s side did not change their game plan and took control of the ball early on. The Yellows dominated possession from the off and tried to cause problems for the locals with long spells of possession in their half.
The first chance of the game fell to the French side. Oyongo tried his luck with a long-range shot, which went just wide of Andrés Fernández’s post. Just two minutes later, Montpellier had their second chance. After a quarter of an hour of play, Delort made no mistake this time, heading the ball past the Villarreal goalkeeper and into the back of the net from cross into the box from the right flank.
Villarreal did not drop their heads and went in search of Lecomte’s goal in earnest. Just before halftime, Raba brilliantly brought down a long ball sent forward by Funes Mori, cut back and forced the Montpellier goalkeeper to make a fine save to keep the Yellows at bay.
In that play and after the whistle blew for halftime, Dani Raba went down injured and had to be substituted. Moments prior his teammate, Daniele Bonera, also went off injured and was replaced by Funes Mori.
After the break, Javi Calleja changed things up and put on Sansone, Ekambi, Castillejo and Ramiro Guerra. In the second half, Villarreal were on the front foot once again. In the 55th minute, Pablo Fornals forced the home side’s goalkeeper to make a stretching save from his powerful shot from the edge of the box.
The Submarine went all out to get the equaliser. Moments later, Yellows youngster Manu Morlanes hit the upright with a superb first-time strike from the edge of the area. In the 74th minute, Ekambi had another go with a shot across goal that scraped the outside of the far post. As part of the second wave of substitutions, Layún came onto the pitch to make his debut for Villarreal.
The award for persistence came in the last minute of normal time. It was that man Ekambi again. The French-Cameroonian striker headed the ball home from a pinpoint cross by Miguelón from the right wing. With no time for more, Villarreal managed to clinch their third draw of preseason at the very last moment.
Lineups:
Montpellier HSC: Lecomte; Oyongo, Mendes, Hilton, Le Tallec; Aguilar, Piriz, Sambia, Mbenza; Mollet and Delort.
Also played: Bertaud, Porsan-Clémente, Congré, Vidal, Poaty, Roussillon, Lasne and Adoyeu.
Villarreal CF: Andrés Fernández; Mario Gaspar, Bonera, Víctor Ruiz, Pedraza; Cáseres, Morlanes, Fornals, Raba; Gerard Moreno and Enes Ünal.
Also played: Funes Mori, Ekambi, Sansone, Castillejo, Ramiro Guerra, Mariano Barbosa, Jaume Costa, Santi Cazorla, Pau, Miguelón and Miguel Layún.
Goals: 1-0. Min. 16: Delort. 1-1. Min. 90: Ekambi.
Referee: Sylvain Palhies (France).
Stadium: Stade Saint-Michel in Canet en Roussillon (France).
