Fifth versus sixth in La Liga ended all-square on Sunday night, as Villarreal and Real Betis played out a high-quality 1-1 draw at the Estadio la Cerámica as the Yellow Submarine celebrated their centenary anniversary.
VILLARREAL
Pepe Reina: 2 – A howler in the first half allowed Betis to score, as he failed to grasp a simple cross.
Juan Foyth: 6
Raúl Albiol: 6 – A game-high eight clearances for the veteran defender.
Pau Torres: 6 – Good on the ball, and stepped up on occasion to win back possession.
Alfonso Pedraza: 5 – An action-packed outing, having to defend Betis’ heavy buildup down his flank. Underwhelming going forward.
Dani Parejo: 6
Ramón Terrats: 8 – A stand-out game for the 22-year-old. Especially brilliant in the second half, where he proved to be a real handful for Los Verdiblancos, combining exquisite touch with impeccable vision. Assisted the equaliser with a delightful delivery.
Manu Trigueros: 5
Samu Chukwueze: 4 – Another game where his frustrating end product and final third decision-making overshadowed his creativity, highlighted by a late chance where he left two defenders in the dust only to mess up the final action.
Gerard Moreno: 7 – Villarreal’s talisman was always involved in the thick of the action, brilliant in his link-up and hold-up play. Offside denied what would’ve been a special game-winning assist, when he danced past two defenders with brilliant skill.
Yéremi Pino: 6 – Initially ruled out for offside, Pino’s goal did stand ultimately after a long VAR check.
SUBSTITUTES:
José Luis Morales: 6 – Quick and direct, the Spaniard gave a tough time to the Betis backline in his cameo. Scored in the 88th minute, but was ruled offside.
Álex Baena: 6
Alberto Moreno: 5
Giovani Lo Celso: n/a
Nicolas Jackson: n/a
REAL BETIS
Rui Silva: 7 – A top game for the Portuguese, who made a couple of good saves in addition to being alert and rushing out to prevent danger late on.
Aitor Ruibal: 7 – Got up the right flank regularly in the first half, creating an opening that was cleared off the line. Kept busy defensively in the second half.
Germán Pezzella: 8 – Was at the end of most of Villarreal’s offensive openings, cleaning up the danger. Won both his duels aerially, along with seven clearances.
Víctor Ruiz: 5
Juan Miranda: 5
Guido Rodríguez: 5 – Booked in the fifth minute for an unnecessary lunge, which forced Pellegrini to take him off at half-time. His absence was felt as Villarreal found entry into Betis territory much easier in the second 45.
Andrés Guardado: 6 – Enjoyed a good game, keeping things ticking and winning most of his first-half duels. Ran out of gas towards the end.
Rodri Sánchez: 8 – Betis’ most active attacker. Drove in and cut inside from the right, delivering a couple of threatening long balls, one of which forced the mistake from Reina. Dropped deep and performed Canales’ role admirably, when the latter was subbed off.
Sergio Canales: 6 – Lasted only 58 minutes, with some evident rustiness off the back of his latest injury recovery.
Ayoze Perez: 4
Borja Iglesias: 5 – Capitalised on an error to tap in the opening goal, but was much less involved than usual.
SUBSTITUTES:
Paul Akouokou: 5 – Brought on at half-time in place of Guido, but struggled to deal with a much more direct Villarreal approach.
Juanmi: 5 – Barely involved after coming on, as Betis were mostly on the backfoot as the game went on.
Luiz Henrique: 5
Youssouf Sabaly: n/a
Willian José: n/a
Roddur Mookherjee | GSFN
