Villarreal and Getafe they signed a tedious duel at the Alfonso Pérez Coliseum that ended goalless because of goalkeeper David Soriawho stopped his rival with five interventions that left the team from Castellón without the option of finishing the day as leader.
Pointed out last day for his irregular performance in Girona, Soria rebelled against the critics to get a point for Getafe. With Soria, Alfonso Pedraza, Samu Chukwueze, Álex Baena and Gerard Moreno dreamed. They touched the goalbut the Getafe goalkeeper prevented the success of Unai Emery’s men.
First, he stopped a shot by Pedraza from outside the area; and then, near the end of the opening 45 minutes, he saved a Gerard Moreno attempt with a great save. That was it from both sides and the walk to the changing rooms that the 22 players took was the best thing that could happen to a sleepy public.
In the first 15 minutes of the second act, nothing happened either. Then, Emery reacted with the entry on the grass of Nicolas Jackson and Samu Chukwueze by Morales and Yéremi Pino. The changes gave some electricity to the clash and Villarreal managed, little by little, to corner the Getafe, absolutely disappeared in combat.
Penalty annulled
That more intense dominance did not translate into an excess of occasions. Pedraza, with a header, tried again, but ran into Soria again. Pedraza was followed by Samu, but he did not hit between the three sticks. And at that point, with a quarter of an hour to go, they turned the tables with the entry of Maksimovic to oxygenate their team.
With the Serbian on the green, Getafe calmed Villarreal’s momentum. He became stronger in contention and was even able to win the match with a poisoned free kick launched by Mauro Arambarri. That was the only moment for him, which ended quickly when Álex Baena, with a header, Samu, with a shot from close range and a penalty whistled by the referee who then undid the VAR, they were a hair’s breadth away from tipping the balance. In the end, defeat was avoided by Soria, a villain a week ago and a hero on matchday three to the bitterness of Villarreal.
Datasheet
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0.- Getafe: Syria; Juan Iglesias, Duarte, Djené, Gastón; Aleñá, Seoane (Maksimovic, m. 73), Arambarri, Portu; Borja Mayoral (Latasa, d. 91) and Enes Ünal (Jaime Mata, d. 90)
0.- Villarreal: Roll; Foyth (Kiko, m. 58) Albiol, Pau Towers, Cobblestone; Yeremi Pino (Chukwueze, 58), Capoue, Couple (Alex Baena, 69), Lo Celso (Coquelin, 69); Gerard Brown and Morales (Jackson, m. 58).