Villarreal regain 6th position after beating Las Palmas with goals by Sansone and Bacca (0-2)
A key victory for Villarreal. The Submarine pick up three very important points on their visit to UD Las Palmas. The Yellows were patient and well organized throughout the game and knew just how to cause problems for the side from the Canary Islands to come away with the desired win. With goals by Bacca and Sansone, Javi Calleja’s side reclaim sixth place in the table, one of the spots to qualify for next season’s Europa League.
The match started at a really high tempo and it was end to end stuff from the opening whistle. Villarreal got hold of the ball quickly though and in the 2nd minute had their first clear chance of the game. Raba got on the end of a long high ball and hit a fierce first time shot at Chichizola, but the Las Palmas keeper was alert and kept out the young forward’s effort.
Despite the intensity of the first quarter of an hour of play, the tempo started to slow down and it was then that Las Palmas tried to win the ball back from Javi Calleja’s men. In the 18th minute, Asenjo made a brilliant save to keep Calleri at bay, then our very own Yellow brick wall intervened again on the half an hour mark, getting a strong hand behind a powerful shot from Halilovic.
The match was wide open, but the second half got off to a slow start in terms of chances on goal. Villarreal came out refreshed though and started to take advantage of the home side’s high lines, as Las Palmas were throwing themselves forward into the Yellow Submarine’s half of the pitch.
After several dangerous Villarreal attacks, Bacca received a ball in space and smashed his shot past Chichizola to break the deadlock and give his side the lead (0-1). After the goal, which was key for the Submarine, Las Palmas tried to react, but it was Bacca who had two clear chances to have been able to sentence the game.
Nevertheless, it was Nicola Sansone who did just that in the final minutes. Gálvez was sent off for clearly bringing down the Italian forward in the box and Sansone made no mistake from the penalty spot. The Yellow number 18 hit a driven shot into the back of the net and sealed three key points for Villarreal’s European football aspirations.
Lineups:
- UD Las Palmas: Chichizola; Macedo (Nacho Gil, m. 78), Ximo Navarro, Gálvez, Aguirregaray; Etebo (Benito, m. 46), Vicente Gómez, Halilovic, Calleri, Tana; and Erik Expósito (Momo, m. 46).
- Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Rukavina, Bonera, Álvaro, Jaume Costa (Adrián Marín, m. 34); Fornals, Rodrigo, Trigueros, Soriano; Raba (Sansone, m. 58) and Bacca (Samu Castillejo, m. 79).
- Goals: 0-1. Min. 66: Bacca. 0-2. Min. 89: Sansone, penalty.
- Referee: David Medié Jiménez. Cautioned: Jaume Costa (m. 16) for Villarreal; Ximo Navarro (m. 61) for Las Palmas. Sent off: Gálvez (m. 89).
- Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 28 in the La Liga Santander between UD Las Palmas and Villarreal CF played at the Estadio Gran Canaria in front of 18,907 spectators.
