Villarreal B beat FC Cartagena away from home with a goal from the midfielder
Villarreal B won against a good Cartagena side at Cartagonova, a difficult ground, to travel to. A goal from Antonio Pacheco was enough to get victory in a match in which the Yellows dominated from start to finish.
Miguel Álvarez’s men faced a huge challenge at Cartagonova against a team that had come into the game on the back of wins over Eibar at home and Andorra away, but they were determined and went onto the pitch playing the style of play that characterises them and looking to cause problems in the opposition penalty box.
Álex Forés had the first two chances for the Yellows with a shot from outside the area to end a good team move and almost taking advantage of a loose ball in the box that almost found its way into the net. However, Cartagena started to get stronger after the first few minutes and managed to create a few chances.
When the Yellows were suffering the most, in the middle of the first half, Haissem Hassan set up a counter-attack and Sergio Lozano, who received the pass, almost scored the first of the afternoon. Both then created two more good chances apiece. The two attackers were the most active men in the Yellow attack. Despite the momentum of the Submarine’s B team, the scoreboard remained unchanged in the first half.
The second half got off to a flying start. After ten minutes, Pacheco took advantage of Haissem’s assist from the right flank to put Villarreal B ahead on the scoreboard.
From that moment on, the Yellows dominated the ball, combining static attacks with transitions led by Haissem and Forés. Fer Niño and Javi Ontiveros came on to try to get another goal.
Carlo Adriano tried his luck from the edge of the area and came close to surprising the visitors with a powerful shot that went just wide of the post. Cartagena wer eunable to equalise against a strong Villarreal B side who were able to compete with and without the ball. Iker Álvarez was also in the spotlight, making a number of good saves, helping Villarreal B to take three very valuable points from a tough stadium to visit such as Cartagonova.
Next up for the Mini Submarine is a home match at the Mini Estadi on Saturday at 7pm CET against CD Tenerife.
Lineups:
FC Cartagena: Aarón; Delmás, Alcalá (m. 60, Feuillassier), K. Olivas (m. 34, Pablo V.), Datkovic; Mikel Rico (m. 72, Sadiku), Musto (m. 60, Tejera); Borja Valle (m. 72, Sangalli), De Blasis, Jairo; Ortuño.
Villarreal B: Iker Álvarez; S. Carreira, Hugo, P. Iñiguez, C. Romero; Haissem, Carlo, Del Moral, S. Lozano; Pacheco (m. 72, Ontiveros), Forés (m. 72, Fer Niño).
Goal: 0-1. Min. 55: Pacheco.
Referee: García Verdura. Booked: Sangalli (FC Cartagena); C. Romero, S. Lozano, S. Carreira (Villarreal B).
Matchday information: Game between FC Cartagena and Villarreal B, corresponding to Matchday 19 of the 2022/23 LaLiga SmartBank season, at Cartaganova.
