Villarreal beats Leicester City and advances from the group stages finishing top in the Premier League International Cup
The last game of the group stages for Villarreal U21s didn’t disappoint by any means. Paco López’s team prevailed brilliantly (2-3) against a fighting and untiring Leicester City side who didn’t think the battle was lost for a minute. The yellows, competitive and with a great sense of togetherness, took the victory and first place in the group – ahead of PSV Jong, Norwich and Leicester City.
The quality of both teams was evident from the first minute. The game was played at such a quick pace that the opportunities came thick and fast. In the 3rd minute, Leo Suárez opened the shooting for Villarreal, his shot hitting the post. Paco López’s side let Leicester know what they were in for, shortly after the midway point in the first half, when Carlos Martínez put Villarreal ahead from an assist by the Argentinean Leo Suárez.
Although the blues tried their luck with some dangerous long shots, Paco López’s side struck again just before half time with a goal from Ramiro Guerra, to which the locals responded immediately with a goal from Cain, leaving the score at 1-2.
With the game completely open, the Submarine went all out for the win in the second half. In the 50th minute, Alfonso increased the lead, but every step forward taken by the yellows was matched by the English side, Muskwe making it 3-2 just five minutes later.
The yellows were on the verge of making it 4 on two occasions; firstly in the 63rd minute as Leo Suárez almost took advantage of a Leicester defensive error and again in the 67th minute with a bullet of a shot by Carlos Martínez that hit the woodwork. In the 70th minute the yellows came close again with a clear chance for Leo Suárez, but the ball didn’t seem to want to go in.
Leicester tried to up the pace in the last fifteen minutes but the Submarine held off the onslaught. In the 87th minute, Mario González had a great chance, but his long shot sailed over the blues goal. One minute later, Ander Cantero made the save of the match off the head of Panayiotou and then it was time up, the yellows took the three points and, deservedly, first place in their group.
Starting line-ups:
Leicester City: Hamer; Sesay, Barmby, McCourt, Moore (Miles, 61’), Benalouane, Cain (Brandon Fox, 81’), James (Mitchell, 61’), Panayiotou, Muskwe and Dyer.
Villarreal CF: Ander Cantero; Carlos Julio, Javi Ramírez, Dan Ojog, Marcos Mauro; Leo Suárez, Shvets, Ramiro Guerra, Alfonso Pedraza (Mario González, 82’); Franco Acosta (Larrea, 63’) and Carlos Martínez (Javi Guasa, 89’).
Goals: 0-1, min. 25: Carlos Martínez. 0-2, min. 41: Ramiro Guerra. 1-2, min. 41: Cain. 1-3, min. 50: Alfonso. 2-3, min. 55: Muskwe.
Referees: Sarah Garratt, assisted by Greg Rollason and Simon Brown. Yellow cards for the home side: Muskwe, McCourt, Benalouane and for the visitors Carlos Julio. Straight red card for Barmby in the 89th minute.
