The Yellows, with ten men, beat Eibar with goals from Moi Gómez, Bacca and Pedraza
Villarreal defeat SD Eibar (1-3) and returned to winning in LaLiga after eight games without taking the three points in the league. The Yellows, who were a man down for the last ten minutes, beat the Basque side thanks to goals from Moi Gómez, Carlos Bacca and Pedraza, all three of which were assisted by Gerard Moreno, who, despite not finding the back of the net, lead Unai Emery’s side to victory.
The Yellows went to Ipurua with a number of important footballers missing, especially in defence. Because of this, Emery lined up with a defensive line that had not been previously seen this season: Jaume Costa, Juan Foyth, Ramiro Funes Mori and Pervis Estupiñán.
The start of the game was spectacular for the Yellows. In their first attack of the game, they opened the scoring at Ipurua. Moi beat Marko Dmitrovic after getting on the end of an exceptional ball into space by Gerard, that surprised the home side’s back line. The piece of play was started by an impressive long ball by Dani Parejo.
The goal was a morale boost by Villarreal, who dominated the game in the opening fifteen minutes. From then on, the home side took a step forward, and tried to create danger by playing balls into the box.
Just before the halfway mark in the first half, Sergio Asenjo stepped up to deny Eibar when they had their best chance. The Yellows No.1 made a fantastic triple save, first of all stopping Diop’s shot in the box, before denying Bryan Gil twice from point-blank range.
Despite the home side pushing forward, the Submarine took their chances, and in the 33rd minute, Manu Trigueros won the ball high up in the Eibar half, and led the away side’s counter-attack. He played the ball through to Gerard, who, after taking it into the box, assisted Bacca, who finished calmly past Dmitrovic.
In the 40th minute, the referee gave SD Eibar a penalty after a Pervis Estupiñán handball from a cross into the box. Asenjo saved Burgos’ penalty convincingly. Once more, he stepped up when needed.
The Submarine did not start the second half as they would have liked to. In the 55th minute, Eibar pulled one back through Sergi Enrich. The striker’s dangerous shot was just out of Asenjo’s reach.
In the 64th minute, Emery looked to the bench, brining on Alfonso Pedraza, Samu Chukwueze and Mario Gaspar as he tried to get the third goal. The players who were closest to getting it for the Yellows were Gerard and Trigueros. In the last 20 minutes of the match, both of them were denied by great Dmitrovic saves.
In the 81st minute, the referee showed a harsh red card to Étienne Capoue, for arriving late ina 50-50 challenge. But despite having ten men, Emery’s side did not sit back and pushed forward, finding their third of the game. Pedraza, after a great run, got on the end of a Gerard assist to kill the game off.
Lineups:
SD Eibar: Dmitrovic; Arbilla, P. Oliveira, E. Burgos (Pozo, m. 83), Cote (Rafa Soares, m. 33); Inui (Sergi Enrich, m. 45), P. Diop, Aleix García (Kevin, m. 45), Edu Expósito, Bryan; Kike G.
Villarreal CF: S. Asenjo, J. Costa (Mario Gaspar, m. 64), Foyth, Funes Mori, Estupiñán; M. Trigueros, Parejo, Capoue, Moi Gómez (Pedraza, m. 64); Gerard, Bacca (Chukuweze, m. 64).
Goals: 0-1. Min. 1: Moi Gómez. 0-2. Min. 33: Bacca. 1-2. Min. 55: Sergi Enrich. 1-3. Min. 87: Pedraza.
Referee: Medié Jiménez. Booked: Arbilla, Bryan Gil (Eibar), Pedraza (Villarreal). Sent off: Capoue (Villarreal, m. 79).
Matchday information: Game between SD Eibar and Villarreal, corresponding to Matchday 27 of the 2020/21 LaLiga season, at Ipurua.
