Villarreal take down Sevilla in what was an extraordinary performance by the Yellows
Yessssss! We can’t say it any other way. A yesssss from deep down within. Yessss, we can do this. Of course we can. Yessss, this is our Villarreal. Yes we can.
Villarreal beat Sevilla in what was a spectacular show at the Estadio de la Cerámica and move one step closer to safety. Goals by Álvaro, Karl Toko Ekambi and Alfonso Pedraza gave the Yellow Submarine the win that they celebrated with their fans after giving their all and putting on a great display. There were some tough moments in the match, but they finished by scoring three goals.
Javi Calleja made up to six changes to the starting eleven with respect to the lineup that set up and won against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the Europa League last Thursday. With Santi Cáseres as a holding midfielder, Santi Cazorla and Vicente Iborra as playmakers in the middle of the park and Carlos Bacca and Toko Ekambi leading the side from the front. In defence Calleja stuck to his three at the back and two wing-backs.
The first goal of the game came from a set piece, Santi Cazorla whipped the ball in from a corner and Álvaro stormed in like a steam train to power the ball into the back of the net with a spectacular diving header (1-0, m. 19).
Our opponents counteracted the goal with a Munir chance. The Sevilla striker got on the end of an André Silva header, shooting strongly, but he did not expect the great intervention of Sergio Asenjo.
With half-time nearly upon us, the goal to make it 2-0 arrived. Villarreal put together a spectacular piece of play on the Estadio de la Cerámica pitch, it was a true work of art. Iborra played a ball to Bacca, who played a great backheel in the box, finding Toko Ekambi, who just had to roll the ball into the back of the next. Beautiful.
Sevilla made two changes at the break looking for a reaction and Villarreal had to dig in to keep their clean sheet. The Yellows could have increased their lead though Pedraza, who beat a number of players, cutting inside, but his powerful shot was stopped by Tomáš Vaclík, when the fans at the Estadio de la Cerámica were already celebrating.
The wing-back was the man who made it 3-0. With Sevilla pushing forward, Manu Morlanes played a great through ball to the Yellows No.16 who stormed into the box, and fired a powerful left-footed strike which flew in like a rocket into the Sevilla goal (m.86).
Villarreal could even have made it 4-0. Pablo Fornals got free down the right, played it across the box and Toko Ekambi’s placed shot came off the bar. The Estadio de la Cerámica enjoyed the match and suffered too. But they definitely did more of the former. Without a doubt.
The next Yellows match is this Thursday against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the round-of-32 second leg in the UEFA Europa League at the Estadio de la Cerámica (6:55pm CET).
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Álvaro, Bonera (Funes Mori, m. 23), Víctor Ruiz; Mario, Cáseres (Morlanes, m. 75), Iborra, Cazorla, Pedraza; Bacca (Fornals, m. 65), Toko Ekambi.
Sevilla FC: Vaclik; Sergi Gómez, Kjaer (Escudero, m. 63), Wöber; Jesús Navas (Sarabia, m. 46), Roque Mesa, Amadou, Vázquez (Ben Yedder, m. 46), Promes; Munir, André Silva.
Goals: 1-0. Min. 19: Álvaro. 2-0. Min. 44: Toko Ekambi. 3-0. Min. 86: Pedraza.
Referee: González González. Booked: Toko Ekambi, Álvaro, Mario, Funes Mori (Villarreal); Roque Mesa (Sevilla).
Matchday information: Matchday 24 of LaLiga at the Estadio de la Cerámica in front of an attendance of 17,402.
