Villarreal get a big point thanks to a fantastic second half led by the club’s all-time top scorer
Gerard Moreno came back to change everything. Villarreal’s top goalscorer of all time came on to the pitch, after months out of action, to make the difference. The Yellows’ No.7 completely changed the outcome of the match. He came on with the score 2-0 at half-time, and led a fantastic reaction where the Yellow Submarine were able to rescue a point in Pamplona. He even scored the second goal, the equaliser, taking the responsibility to step up and fire home a penalty in added time, despite the pressure from the crowd at El Sadar.
Villarreal had a number of absences when they arrived in Pamplona. Marcelino was unable to call on Kiko Femenía, Juan Foyth, Eric Bailly, Pape Gueye, Ayoze Pérez and Nicolas Pepe, as well as Ilias Akhomach and Alfonso Pedraza, who are long-term absentees. Eight players out, which affected the Groguet’s chances.
Despite the injuries, Marcelino had a clear message in the pre-match press conference, underlining that the setbacks could not be an excuse and that the Groguets had to fight for a victory at El Sadar.
Although Villarreal went into the game confident in attack, looking to trouble the opposition penalty area, Osasuna found the opener with their first chance of the match. Before the tenth minute, Ante Budimir headed home a Rubén García cross from the right. The home team’s goal surprised the Yellows.
The game quickly looked to have slipped away from Villarreal. Only five minutes after the goal that made it 1-0, VAR told referee Munuera Montero to check the screen for a supposed touch from Raúl Albiol on Budimir in the box. That ignored what the referee, close to the action, had originally given, which was him saying there was no foul. After a long check at the VAR stand, with the referee clearly not entirely convinced, he had no option but to give the penalty. Budimir stepped up to make it 2-0 from the spot.
The penalty decision saw the Submarine in shock and fail to respond for a few minutes. To add to the disbelief, Munuera Montero soon added to the Groguets’ disbelief, pointing to the penalty spot once more for a non-existent handball by Dani Parejo. Once again VAR intervened, correcting the referee’s decision.
In the closing stages of the first half, Villarreal looked composed once more, with a par of dangerous chances before the break. None of them, however, found the back of the net.
For the second half, Marcelino brought on Gerard Moreno, looking for more clarity in attack. Villarreal responded quickly, looking dangerous in attack. Two minutes after half-time, Thierno Barry went close to scoring, with a dangerous effort from the edge of the box. The French striker forced Sergio Herrera into making a great save at full stretch to stop the Yellows from cutting the home team’s lead.
The Yellows continued to trouble Osasuna, but the game became open and end-to-end. However, the Yellow Submarine were looking more dangerous. They deserved the goal that made it 2-1, with Álex Baena sliding in after a low cross by Yeremy Pino across the goalline.
Marcelino’s team were pushing. They stayed intense and looked for the equaliser. Denis Suárez could have got it just after coming on, but Herrera denied him. From there, the Submarine started to look more tired. Their attempts lacked the freshness they did earlier, but they carried on creating chances.
In added-time, Logan Costa’s shirt was pulled by Lucas Torró in the box after a corner. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Gerard Moreno beat Sergio Herrera, despite the pressure from the crowd at El Sadar. The Yellows No.7 made it 2-2 and got a big point for Villarreal.
