Villarreal gave this Saturday An almost certain step towards qualifying for the next edition of the Europa League After beating the Athletic Club at La Cerámica It’s also a very relaxed game that resulted in a fantastic goal from the final 5-1 hero Álex Baena’s direct free kick, and Nico Jackson took advantage of the Basque’s defensive facilities with a double. set.
Athletic, Europe still as target, He was also defeated due to his mistakes in offense. because they had almost as much chance as their opponents until the 60th minute, but Villarreal was much more effective in both areas and that was the key point of the match.
He spent the first half of everything with luck, good saves, goals and arguments as Athletic finished the half by just one goal, thanks to Sancet’s penalty. After Parejo caught Del Cerro Grande, who had just denied a goal Inaki Williams He saw offside for offside but VAR fixed it.
The match started with a lot of fun, with Iñaki Williams’ cross-shoot and Pedraza’s long shot, with Unai Simón back in the corner. Better still, it was the Basque goalkeeper’s next stop, this timeA headshot by Yeremy Pino at close range was repelled from the crossbar.
Before Álex Baena’s masterful kick from the direct free kick, he could no longer do anything. He hit the post with a shot that was as strong as he was good, making the situation 1-0 (min.24). Just a moment ago, Reina had zeroed in on the goal with her foot to deflect a very clear shot from Nico Williams.
It didn’t take long for Athletic to recover from the accepted goal, but they still failed the shot. Once again, Nico Williams scored the visitor’s goal with his boots, this time with an indoor volley.. It’s the opposite of Villarreal, which hits the second it has. It was Jackson who pushed the ball, which was released after Baena’s shot, into the back of the goal.
But neither the penalty goal in extra time in the first half nor the pass through the dressing room woke Athletic, he is not very intense in his defensive moves and is very bad in defense with any long ball sent by his opponent. And on the first come, Villarreal again made the situation 3-1, taking advantage of a rebound from the Jackson area after Yeremy’s shot.
Invisible, nearly fourth from Chukwueze, Athletic was canceled early in the game due to offside. Athletic took their teeth out on the field with almost two consecutive yellow cards and Ernesto Valverde came out of the bench with the entry of Vesga, De Marcos and Muniain. The shot backfired as they took 4-1 after Paredes’ tenth own goal error.
Athletic also had no luck on the set pieces as they made the situation 4-2 with a header from Dani García and a shot from Sancet that unexpectedly deflected Reina from close range. The only thing missing from La Cerámica’s side was the goal of Gerard Moreno, who played with Lo Celso in the last half hour as he slowly recovered and also saw his goal denied due to offside.
Finishing with Baena’s 5-1 win in extra time, Villarreal is nine points ahead of seventh with four days left and does not miss fourth place. Athletic, on the other hand, will have to continue fighting for their place in the Conference League after four undefeated games.