Juan Foyth will drink the grapes as the king of the mambo. The Argentine arrived at La Cerámica as world champion and left giving victory to Setién’s team, a coach who earns credit with these three points. La Cerámica opened its doors again with a game whose first part was up to the reform of the stage, when Cavani put Valencia ahead and Chukwueze equalized on the stroke of half-time, and which ended up being resolved due to a defensive error by Valencia, who with the ball standing, he saw how the work he had done was ruined. Diakhaby annoyed Mamardashvili and so Foyth finished off at will.
The game was expected to be frantic and it was in its first half. The styles of Setién and Gattuso predicted a show and there was. The 18 shots on goal that were seen in the first half confirm this. It was the derby of the game of the goose. From box to box and I shoot because it’s my turn. In just 40 seconds Cavani had had it and he spared Valencia’s life Gerard Moreno. The Catalan still has to be thinking about what he did to fail what failed. The striker sent the ball out despite shooting at an empty goal and three meters from it. That occasion was a declaration of intent by Villarreal, whose staging was powerful, with another occasion in that phase by Capoué.
Valencia reacted and in what way. Gattuso repositioned Musah to bail out water in parallel to Nico and from there Valencia grew in the game. The ché began to press better, to recover more and to run like hungry hyenas. And of course, Reina began to struggle. She tasted him Lino, Cavani and Cömert. And in that gale came Cavani’s goal, who found himself at the height of the penalty spot with a rebound and released an arrow shot with his left leg to which Reina could only make a statue. Fifth goal for the Uruguayan, who in the summer was close to being a yellow reinforcement.
Gattuso’s men seemed comfortable, winning most of the duels, making possession their own with long circulations, and finding a way to hit again on their left. But Valencia did not finish the job and found his penance in his own virtues and his daring and open-field style gave life to Villarreal. Thus, with spaces, Pino, Baena, Chukwueze and Capoue were within reach of the tie. In addition, the injury to Kiko Femenía and the departure of Foyth harmed Lino and Gayà, whom the Argentine tied short. And when the break time loomed over La Cerámica, the equalizing goal arrived. Villarreal, in three touches, Parejo to Gerard and this one to Chukwueze, was planted in the Mamardashvili area and the Nigerian solved perfectly.
The game calmed down after passing through the changing rooms. Neither the frenetic rhythm of the first 45 minutes could be eternal nor Setién nor Gattuso were willing to allow such a number of chances from the rival. The ball began to be played more through the center of the field than through the areas. The defenses, now yes, were imposed on the forwards. But with the appearances of Baena, Chukwueze, Parejo and Capoué, plus the offensive changes that Setién was introducing, it was Villarreal who had the most presence in the vicinity of Mamardashvili, although with the passing of the minutes there was more fear of losing a point that you want to win all three.
However, as happened in the first half, when the game was coming to an end, a defensive imbalance in the rear che at the exit of a corner led to Foyth’s goal. Mamardashvili ran into Diakhaby, who neither went for the ball nor moved away for his teammate to do so, and that was how the Argentine was able to finish off, giving Setién’s team the victory. Balsamic for them (Capoue was able to do the third), lapidary for Gattuso’s, who once again saw how they were left with nothing when they had made merits so as not to leave empty.