Barcelona won the top match in La Liga 2-0 at Villarreal. However, the Catalans made many mistakes in the first half and were lucky not to concede a goal. Barca also benefited from Renato Veiga’s mistake.
Barcelona did not play well away from home in the first half and made a lot of mistakes defensively. However, Pepé (2nd minute) and Ayoze (7th and 9th minutes) were unable to capitalize on this in the opening minutes. And that would come back to haunt Villarreal, because after a foul by Santi on Raphinha in the penalty area, the visitors were awarded a penalty. The Brazilian took the penalty himself and converted it confidently (12′). Raphinha almost added another when his long-range shot hit the crossbar (16′).
Villarreal leaves a lot to be desired – Renato Veiga’s slip-up
Otherwise, the Catalans were lucky not to concede a goal in the first 45 minutes, as the home side simply failed to capitalize on the mistakes in Barca’s defense. In the 17th minute, the ball ended up in the visitors’ net, but Koundé’s own goal was disallowed due to Moleiro being offside. The “Yellow Submarine” struggled to convert their chances in the first half: Buchanan’s direct shot went wide to the left, Pepé hit the crossbar from a suspected offside position (34′), and Buchanan again failed to capitalize on Balde’s mistake, failing to beat Garcia from close range (37′).
It wasn’t the home side’s first half, and shortly before the break, things got even worse for Villarreal: Renato Veiga made a completely unnecessary tackle from behind on Lamine Yamal at the halfway line and was rightly shown a red card (39′). This meant that the hosts had to start their comeback with one man down.
Lamine Yamal increases the lead
The second half had far less to offer than the first. Villarreal struggled with a man down, while Barcelona were too confident on the ball. Chances were few and far between, partly because the Catalans were not playing with the utmost determination up front. Nevertheless, the 2-0 came when Lamine Yamal scored with a header (63′).
The “Yellow Submarine” even had a chance to bring some excitement to the game, but substitute Mikautadze failed to beat Barca keeper Garcia when he found himself alone in front of goal (76′). So in the end, it remained 2-0 for Barcelona. Villarreal will be annoyed because they could have gotten more out of the game based on their chances in the first half, and the red card was completely unnecessary.
Now there will be a few days’ break. Villarreal will resume action in the new year on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) January 3, at Elche. Barcelona will face Espanyol in the derby on the same day in the evening (9 p.m.).