Villarreal lose against the Culés, despite deserving more at the Estadio de la Cerámica
A painful and harsh defeat against FC Barcelona (1-3). Villarreal CF lost against the Catalan side in a match where the Yellows deserved a lot more. The away side were clinical with the chances they had and beat the Submarine with two goals late on. The Submarine’s goal was scored by Chukwueze.
The opening moments of the game were full of excitement and goalscoring opportunities. In the fourth minute, FC Barcelona had the first chance of the game. Abde’s header from a corner was saved by Gero Rulli at full stretch.
The Submarine had a chance straight after. Arnaut Danjuma won the ball back in a dangerous position, and after turning in the box, shot towards ter Stegen’s goal. The effort hit Gerard Piqué on the hand. To the surprise of everyone, nor the referee nor VAR gave the clear penalty to Villarreal. Incomprehensible.
The action was end to end and before the halfway point of the first half, Memphis shot just wide after going one-on-one with Rulli after a Frenkie de Jong pass. Then from a set piece, Pau could have opened the scoring with a dangerous header from the heart of the box, which went just over.
At the start of the second half, FC Barcelona went ahead through de Jong. The Dutchman scored after getting on the rebound of a Memphis shot from a Jordi Alba cross. First of all, the goal was ruled out for offside, but after a VAR revision, the referee gave a goal for the away side. The Yellows had to fight back.
Ten minutes later, the referee once more took centre stage, not giving a clear penalti when Eric García pulled Raúl Albiol back in the box. Once more, the Estadio de la Cerámica couldn’t believe it.
It looked like luck wasn’t on Villarreal’s side, when, in the 74th minute, they missed a clear chance for the equaliser. Manu Trigueros sent his shot over the bar from the heart of the box, after a piece of play started by Samu Chukwueze from the right. However, only two minutes later, the Nigerian winger beat ter Stegen with a placed shot from a Danjuma assist.
The closing stages saw Villarreal at their best, pushing FC Barcelona back. Trigueros and Danjuma could have turend the game around. However, it was the away team who found the winning goal through Memphis. And then, to sum up the night, the referee, who didn’t give two clear penalties to Villarreal, gave one to Barcelona. Philippe Coutinho scored it. An unfair and harsh defeat at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Rulli; Foyth, R. Albiol, Pau, A. Pedraza (Min. 65, Estupiñán); Capoue, Parejo, M. Trigueros (Min. 84, Dani Raba); Moi Gómez, Yeremy (Min. 65, Chukwueze), Danjuma.
FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Eric, Piqué, R. Araujo, Jordi Alba (Min. 70, Mingueza); Sergio, Nico (Min. 80, Coutinho), F. De Jong; Gavi, Abde (Min. 66, O. Dembélé), Memphis.
Goals: 0-1. Min 50: F. De Jong. 1-1. Min 77: Chukwueze. 1-2. Min 88: Memphis. 1-3. Min 94: Coutinho.
Referee: Soto Grada. Booked: Yeremy, Dani Raba (Villarreal), Jordi Alba, Piqué (Barcelona).
Matchday information: Game corresponding to Matchday 15 of LaLiga at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Attendance: 19,050.
