The Yellows fall to Valencia CF in the second round of the knockout tournament

Villarreal Women’s journey in the Copa de la Reina came to an end in the second round after a 1-3 defeat to Valencia CF, in a match overshadowed by a potentially serious injury to Albeta early on.

The start could not have been more unfortunate for the Yellows. In the sixth minute, Mascarell capitalised on a misplaced back pass from Marta Estupiñán to goalkeeper Mar Segarra to put Valencia ahead (0-1). Just minutes later, Albeta was forced off on a stretcher after a painful incident that left everyone at Pitch 5 of the José Manuel Llaneza Training Ground fearing the worst.

Chances were scarce after that, though Villarreal tried to create danger down Claudia Enseñat’s flank without reward. The Yellows’ best moment of the first half came right on the stroke of half-time. Aixa Salvador was brought down inside the box on the counterattack and converted the resulting penalty to make it 1-1 (45+3’).

In the second half, Valencia regained the lead through Yasmín in the 58^th minute (1-2). Villarreal came close to levelling the score with good efforts from Sara Medina and Cienfu, but the former was denied by the goalkeeper and the latter struck the crossbar. Valencia then wrapped things up when Ferrato scored in the 87^th minute to seal the 1-3 win.

Villarreal Women’s next match is on Saturday 4^th October at 4pm CEST, against Oviedo at Pitch 5 of the José Manuel Llaneza Training Ground.