An unrecognisable Villarreal lose to Olympique de Marseille in the first leg of their last-16 tie
Villarreal were beaten 4-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie against Olympique Marseille. Goals from Veretout, an own goal from Mosquera and a brace from Aubameyang set the tone in a match in which Villarreal were unable to find their best form.
Olympique de Marseille were the clear masters of the ball in the early stages of the game. However, it was Villarreal who were the first team to reach their opponents’ goal with danger. In the seventh minute of the match, Coquelin quickly took a free kick in the centre of the pitch and gave the ball to Ilias who, after an individual move down the right flank and rushing to the byline, played a ball back to Coquelin himself, but a Marseille defender deflected it behind for a corner.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s side, settled in Villarreal’s half, were insistent and looking for a gap in the Submarine’s well-packed defence, which did not suffer too much from the Marseille team’s early attacks. However, the script of the match began to change in the 23rd minute, when Veretout, at his own pleasure, headed the ball into the box to make it 1-0.
Villarreal did not take kindly to the home side’s opening goal. The opposite happened to Olympique de Marseille, who threw themselves even more at Pepe Reina’s goal and got the second goal of the match after Mosquera, trying to clear a cross inside the area, put the ball into his own net.
Villarreal’s misfortunes continued and in the 42nd minute Aubameyang made it 3-0 after converting Yerson Mosquera’s penalty.
At half-time, the effectiveness in front of goal gave Olympique de Marseille a valuable 3-0 lead.
Marcelino brought on Sorloth, Parejo and Alberto Moreno at the start of the second half in search of a reaction in the second 45 minutes.
The Submarine tried hard in the opening minutes of the second half, but Marseille continued to dominate a game that would become even more difficult when Aubameyang scored 4-0 on a counter-attack in the 58th minute and Alberto Moreno was sent off a few minutes later.
In the end, Olympique de Marseille ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. Villarreal will try to turn around a tie that has become an uphill struggle next Thursday, at 6.45pm CET, at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
