Villarreal beats Leganes in La Liga and moves closer to the Champions League
Villarreal, who are consolidating their fifth place, won the match with a burst of three goals in the last 20 minutes of the first half, greatly complicating Leganés’ chances of survival.
Villarreal takes another step toward making their dream a reality . The Champions League deserves to enjoy Ayoze —two goals in the match, 18 in LaLiga already— Baena and company. Waiting for Betis’s performance tomorrow, the Yellows are six points ahead of the Verdiblancos , their closest pursuers. The unstoppable ‘submarine’ has been on a triumphant path lately. It’s a fourth consecutive victory in the championship for Marcelino’s team against a Leganés side whose existence is becoming very complicated. Very complicated. The pepineros , after the victory against Alavés, are now four points away from safety.
Pépé , Baena , Yeremy , and Ayoze are four “demons.” They need little, barely a flash, to create danger. Villarreal play and they finish, accelerating in the final meters to do damage. Dmitrovic saved Pino ‘s first chance in the 40th second, Baena’s shots were blocked, and then Pépé made a brilliant play to give it to Parejo , who shot wide.
Leganés , whose life was riding on the ball in the match, weren’t intimidated. They stepped up and responded with character. The pepineros, who were even winning possession from the U-17 with 60 % by the 20th minute , were winning almost every duel. Cissé’s shot went just wide, and then Luiz Junior made a good save on a powerful Raba shot that was just wide of the post and saved a Neyou shot .
Yellow gale
But Villarreal , who had already warned at the start, have dynamite . And in eight minutes they sank Leganés . A good combination of the Yellows on the right ended with a shot from Pedraza , which Ayoze deflected inside the area. 1-0 in the 23rd minute. The Canary Island striker was left wanting more. And in the 31st minute, he received the ball from Pino , beat Alti and Rosier , and put it in the net. At 2-0, Leganés broke down, and Baena, who had had a chance to score a third earlier, invented a masterful pass in the 45th minute for Pépé to finish from distance past Dmitrovic , who had come out of the goal. 3-0 and halftime. It was a Yellow whirlwind.
With the lead, Villarreal let Leganés play . The Pepineros played in the opponent’s half and Marcelino ‘s men waited to steal the ball, launch a counterattack, and score again. They’re lethal, and that’s how they could have gotten their fourth. Quickly breaking free, Ayoze passed it from the right to Yeremy , who was coming in from the left. Pino controlled it and shot, but Dmitrovic appeared to prevent the goal.
The crossbar
Borja Jiménez made four immediate substitutions. Leganés needed to react, but they failed. Only Jorge Sáenz headed a corner kick off the crossbar at the near post . There, in the 72nd minute , the Pepineros could have scored the first goal, and perhaps the final stretch of excitement. But the crossbar kept it out. Then there was a Munir free kick , and little else. The match was almost over , and when it was over, Villarreal chanted “Champions!” at the top of their lungs.
