Not even the fact that the home goalkeeper had a great afternoon was able to stop the Submarine. Villarreal believed in the win all the way through and picked up a key victory to stay in the European places when they visited Real Valladolid (1-2). The Yellows -led by Ilias Akhomach and the magic of Álex Baena- dug in and pulled out all the stops to get the three points with goals from Barry and Ayoze.
Although it was Villarreal who imposed their dominance on the ball, the home defence perfectly closed down the Submarine, who did not find it difficult to get forward but had trouble getting into the Valladolid area.
The movements of Ilias, Pepe and Baena were unable to break down Pezzolano’s side until, on the brink of the half-hour mark, Akhomach twisted and turned on the edge of the area, played in Comesaña, who found Femenía, who put in a perfect cross from the right for Barry, in the six-yard box, to head home perfectly to make it 0-1.
With the goal, Valladolid were forced to stretch and stop parking the bus, but the Yellows dropped off to perfection and prevented every attacking attempt from the home side.
With more space, the Submarine became more dangerous. In the 31st minute, Pepe tried with a great shot from close range after a fast counter-attack that goalkeeper Hein repelled with a great intervention.
On the verge of half-time, the Yellows had a double chance. The first came with a low cross from Femenía that Barry, diving to his feet, missed by millimetres. In the very next move, the Frenchman received a great through ball from Baena to try a cross-shot that, once again, Hein saved.
In the 48th minute, Baena again came close with an impressive half-volley at the long post that crashed against the post. It was a pity because the Almeria-born player’s shot was simply unstoppable.
Villarreal were creating a string of chances and chances when Valladolid equalised. In the 59th minute, Sylla scored a penalty after he was fouled in the box to make the score 1-1.
And it was back to square one. The home team conceded metres and the Submarine continued to hover around their area. And it was then that the figure of goalkeeper Hein, already present throughout the match, became gigantic.
And it didn’t matter who or how: the Estonian repelled every chance the Yellows had. First with a header from Costa, then after a great shot from the front by Pape Gueye and finally in a tremendous left-footed shot by Ilias Akhomach that Hein, with a great hand, cleared at the last moment.
It seemed that only a miracle could break the deadlock… and it came. In the 83rd minute, Álex Baena – always the greatness of Baena – connected with a great cross for Ayoze to head in and extend his love affair with the goal. Villarreal finally breathed a sigh of relief after endless chances.
In the closing stages, the Yellows’ dominance lengthened even further to deny the Pucela side the chances they needed to make it three out of three once again.
The Yellows have a double-header next week, as they visit Poblense on Tuesday 29th (Municipal de Sa Pobla, 9pm CET) and Rayo Vallecano on Saturday 2nd November (6:30pm CET, Estadio de la Cerámica).
