The Yellows lost in extra time to one of the best teams in the competition
Villarreal Women were unable to celebrate a historic night at the Mini Estadi, which hosted the quarter-finals of the Copa de la Reina for the first time in its history. Esther gave the visitors the lead in the first half; the Yellows, who searched persistently for an equaliser, forced extra time thanks to an Ivana own goal in the 77th minute, but Linda’s goal in the 100th minute settled the tie in Madrid’s favour.
Spurred on by the Mini Estadi crowd, Villarreal Women started the game with great impetus, which allowed them to have some notable approaches to the Madrid goal. Pancha Lara, who started on the left flank, was the scorer of the Submarine’s first serious warning. The Chilean, after a good counter-attack led by Belén, crossed the ball too far and it went wide.
Monforte’s girls continued to generate and, in the tenth minute of the game, Pancha Lara again came close to giving the Yellows the lead when she crashed a ball against the crossbar. However, the move was subsequently disallowed for offside.
Real Madrid took a step forward after the home side’s onslaught. The Yellows, meanwhile, remained in a low block, holding off Madrid’s attempts without suffering too much and with the speedy Belén at the forefront of the attack waiting for a possible counter-attack.
In the 23rd minute Villarreal Women again had a double chance. This time from a set piece. In the first instance, Pancha Lara attempted a goal straight from a corner that was cleared off the line; in the second instance, Estefa shot wide from a good cross by Llompart.
Despite the persistence of the Yellows side, it was Real Madrid Women who made the first breakthrough in the 34th minute. A Madrid attacker struck a ball that had been left dead at the edge of the area after the rebound from the corner, and Esther was immediately on hand to send it into the back of the net.
Real Madrid made the most of their effectiveness to go in at half-time ahead on the scoreboard.
Monforte introduced fresh legs at the start of the second half to try to level the tie. Pilar García and Paola Soldevila came on in place of Llompart and Lara Mata.
Villarreal Women found it difficult to reach their opponents’ goal in the early stages of the second half. For this reason, Monforte brought more artillery off the bench: Soldevila, Vera Rico and the team’s top scorer, Sheila Guijarro, came on at the Mini Estadi.
In the 77th minute Villarreal Women equalised. Cienfu drove forward in the final third of the pitch and played it out wide for Pancha Lara, who put in a cross into the heart of the box that a Real Madrid defender tried to clear but it went into her own net.
Neither team was able to break the deadlock in the remaining minutes. The quarter-finals of the Copa de la Reina would be decided in extra time.
In the first half of extra time, the Yellows had a great chance to take the lead. Lucía Romero, who had come on at the start of the extra time, gave the ball inside the box to Sheila whose shot appeared to hit a defender from the away side in the hand, but no penalty was given. Then Real Madrid made no mistake and Linda, with a neat finish, put Alberto Toril’s side in front.
Just as the first half seemed to be drawing to a close, Lucía Romero came close to levelling the tie again after taking advantage of a lapse in concentration by the Madrid defence.
In the restart and final part of extra time Villarreal Women were unable to take the game to penalties despite trying until the last minute. The Yellows said goodbye to the Copa de la Reina with their heads held high after putting one of the best teams in the competition on the ropes.
Lineups:
Villarreal Women: Elena de Toro; I. Miguélez, Lara Mata (min. 46, Soldevila), C. Cubedo (min. 58, Giménez), F. Lara; M. Llompart (min. 46, Pilar García), Cienfu, Estefa, Nerea (min. 94, Lucía R.); Rueda (min. 58, Sheila), Belén (min. 74, Vera Rico).
Real Madrid Women: Misa; K. Robles, Claudia F., Ivana, Svava; Teresa (min. 91, Oroz), Zornoza (min. 67, Linda C.), Weir, Esther (min. 74, Feller); Athenea (min. 91, Nahikari), Olga (min. 67, Toletti).
Goals: 0-1. Min. 34: Esther. 1-1. Min. 77: Ivana (OG). 1-2. Min. 100: Linda
Referee: Arantza Gallastegui. Booked: M. Llompart, Belén (Villarreal Women); M. Oroz (Real Madrid Women).
Matchday information: Match corresponding to the Copa de la Reina quarter-finals between VIllarreal Women and Real Madrid Women. Attendance: 750.
