Villarreal 2-1 Real Madrid: Yeremy Pino and Gerard Moreno halt Galactico’s bid for LaLiga top spot

Villarreal defeated Real Madrid 2-1 on Saturday night at the Estadio de la Cerámica to claim their third successive LaLiga victory.

A loose pass from Ferland Mendy saw Carlo Ancelotti’s side miss a goal early in the second half, with Gerard Moreno playing an excellent deflected pass to Pino, who fired a forceful shot past Thibaut Courtois to give Villarreal a lead. from 1-0.

Their lead was almost halved soon after, with Vinicius Junior playing a beautiful pass without looking at Karim Benzema, who dodged his shot inches from the post; That would be the story of the game for Madrid that could not take its chances

Yeremy Pino’s (left) second-half shot gave the hosts a 1-0 lead over Madrid.

Karim Benzema equalized shortly after from the penalty spot after a handball from Juan Foyth in the area

But Benzema soon made amends, beating Pepe Reina from the penalty spot with a low effort after a lengthy VAR review awarded the Whites a penalty after a hand ball inside the box from Villarreal full-back Juan Foyth.

That was not the end of what was a spirited start to the second half with Madrid conceding a penalty just two minutes later, with David Alaba struggling for balance before handling the ball awkwardly.

Gerard Moreno stepped up to restore the home team’s lead and score his second LaLiga goal this season.

After a long VAR review, Foyth seemed to pass a through ball to Madrid’s Vinicius Junior (L)

Gerard Moreno (L) restored the home side’s lead just two minutes later with a brilliant penalty kick.

Villarreal got off to a great start and could have scored a goal in the first five minutes, with Francis Coquelin sweeping a tremendous backheel right off the post.

Madrid, who were level on points with Barcelona at the start of the game before the match, finally found their footing, with Karim Benzema orchestrating their comeback, firing over the bar before pushing past Eder Militao, who slipped his shot in. post width.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men continued to press Villarreal and it didn’t take long for Vinicius Junior to launch a thunderous low shot from a loose pass, but Pepe Reina stopped it well.

could have put the home team had the biggest chance of the first half, sweeping a low cross to the post with some beautiful use of his foot

Vinicius Junior ran into a loose pass inside the area and launched a low shot towards the goal, but Pepe Reina went ahead and easily cleared the ball for a corner.

More to follow…

Frustrating first part for Madrid, who did not know how to convert several direct chances

Francis Coquelin’s slippery heel could have lifted the hosts five minutes into the match.