The controversial expulsion of Baena tarnishes Villarreal's triumph in extremis

A goal by Nicolas Jackson in the last breath of the match between Villarreal and Almería at the Ciutat de València gave the yellow team victory (2-1) in an intense duel in which the Almeria team went ahead in the first half with a both from Gonzalo Melero.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
23 October 2022 Sunday 12:33
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The controversial expulsion of Baena tarnishes Villarreal's triumph in extremis

A goal by Nicolas Jackson in the last breath of the match between Villarreal and Almería at the Ciutat de València gave the yellow team victory (2-1) in an intense duel in which the Almeria team went ahead in the first half with a both from Gonzalo Melero.

Villarreal equalized in the second with a goal from Álex Baena, whose celebration by lifting his shirt showing a message of remembrance to the late José Manuel Llaneza cost him his expulsion. When it seemed that the game would end in a draw, Jackson resolved a counterattack in the 94th minute.

In short, with two goals in the second half, Villarreal came from behind against Almería (2-1), who went ahead thanks to Melero. The 1-1 was the work of Álex Baena. In the celebration, the youth squad showed a shirt that he was wearing under him. “Thank you for everything, Llaneza”, was read in the tribute to the vice president, who died on the 20th. De Burgos Bengoetxea showed him the second yellow for passing the team shirt behind his head and the consequent red In 94, with ten , Jackson made it 2-1.

And it is that when it seemed that the game would end with a tie at one, Jackson resolved a counter after a precise assistance from Dani Parejo in an emotional match in which the expulsion of Baena was key, who received the second yellow card of the game when he got up shirt over his head to celebrate his goal (minute 56), the first for his team, but which nonetheless ended up becoming an action that spurred his team on.

Despite the fact that Almería surprised Villarreal with a very intense start to the match, it was Unai Emery's team that was about to open the scoring after six minutes in a dazzling offensive action that was resolved with a powerful header from Chukwueze who found himself with a great hand from Pacheco to spoil the occasion.

Despite the fact that Villarreal pressed Almeria well, the Andalusian team managed to get the ball out of their field and even put the Argentine Gero Rulli to the test with a good shot from his compatriot Lucas Robertone, despite the fact that the visiting team had as main lack the last pass.

With the two teams well planted on the pitch, the best scoring chances appeared through Almería's goal, with Álex Baena as the protagonist, but Almería did not hide either and looked for Rulli's goal until he found it to score 0 -1, after Egaras started the play, El Bilal started with power and assisted Melero, which culminated with a quality shot against which the Argentine goalkeeper could do nothing.

The goal did not spur Villarreal. On the contrary, since they went through some trouble in the next ten minutes against Almería, whose goal gave them new energy and ratified their good start to the match.

In the last bars of this first half, Emery's team seemed to overcome the blow and became active. Just over a minute before the break, another great hand from Fernando Pacheco prevented Colombian Johan Mojica from equalizing the match with a powerful shot from outside the area.

Álex Baena put Pacheco to the test in the first action as soon as the start of the second half was whistled. Almería suffered, who locked themselves in their field in the first matches of this period, since Villarreal moved the ball with speed and precision.

Although El Bilal had the 0-2 in his boots in a counterattack, it was Álex Baeza who scored to equalize but in his celebration he lifted his shirt to show a dedication to the recently deceased José Manuel Llaneza, vice president of the club, and when passing by above his head the shirt to show the legend -Thank you for everything, Llaneza- the referee showed him the yellow card, the second and therefore the red.

This decision ignited the local players and the stands, to the point that despite the numerical inferiority, Villarreal grew and turned the game into a monologue in the following minutes, although little by little Almería recovered from this emotional effusiveness of their rival and began to bother the Castellón goal.

The game broke down completely and the chances accumulated in both goals without either team managing to put some order in the game.

The match entered its final phase without losing intensity or speed despite the fact that since Baena's expulsion it became a very physical duel and the players went to the limit and with the goalkeepers as protagonists.

In the closing stages, Almería regained control of the match, with one more man than their rival, they locked Emery's men in their field, but when everything seemed that it would end with a tie at one, a brilliant pass from Parejo to Jackson ended up giving the emotional victory against Villarreal, who effusively celebrated the victory after the painful week in which their vice president lost his life.

2 - Villarreal: Rulli, Mojica, Pau Torres, Albiol, Mandi (Kiko Femenía, m.46), Álex Baena, Parejo, Coquelin (Arnau Danjuma, m.86), Alberto Moreno (Jackson, m.46), Chukwueze ( Trigueros, d.62) and Morales (Yeremy Pino, d.86).

1 - Almería: Pacheco, Akieme, Ely, Chumi, Kaiky, Pozo, Robertone (Arnau Puigmal, m.78), Eguaras (De la Hoz, m.78), Melero (Lazaro, m.86), Baptistao (Embarba, m.54) and El Bilal Touré (Ramazani, m.86).

Goals: 0-1, m.31: Melero. 1-1, m.55, Alex Baena. 2-1, m.94 : Jackson.

Referee: De Burgos Bengoechea (Vizcaya Committee). He showed a yellow card to the locals Alberto Moreno and Pau Torres and to the visitor Akieme. He expelled Álex Baena from Villarreal for a double yellow card (m.56) and Morlanes (m.56 on the bench).

Incidents: match of the eleventh day of LaLiga Santander played at the Ciutat de València stadium before 13,816 spectators. A minute of silence was observed in memory of José Manuel Llaneza, vice president of Villarreal, who died this week.