Betis He had a great day against a rival that has one of the best moments in LaLiga. The team led by the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini They beat Villarreal 2-0 without appeal, third in the tournament, which had won 8 of the last 9 games it had played in the same competition.
Enough to consolidate their position in sixth place, although still far from fourth, the last place to play in the Champions League.
The Andalusians were aware of the importance of this duel. First, because of the rival’s good form and, second, because the people from Castellón are a direct rival in their desire to return to the top European tournament, after 21 seasons.
This is also what the ignition understood Chimy Ávila, who went from being one of the players at the starting gate to being the hero in the King’s Cupafter scoring both Betic goals in the comeback against Elche. Before the clock reached 5 minutes, the Argentine’s shot passed very close to the left upright.
But those directed of Pellegrini They could not risk too much in the face of the enormous offensive wealth of the visitors. Before 10 minutes, the groguet team had already reached danger twice with an attack by Georgian Georges Mikautadze and a forced shot by Gerard Moreno.
Then, the match found greater balance and vertigo, with two teams alternating control of the ball to try to open the score. Just in the quarter of an hour, the Brazilian Antony tested the Villarreal goalkeeper and, immediately on the other side, Marc Bartra deactivated a dangerous Buchanan shot.
In the half hour of the match, Marcelino García Toral’s pupils (one of the reasons for Alexis Sánchez’s departure from Olympique de Marseille) had the clearest chance of the match. Alfonso Pedraza won on the edge in a broken play and crossed for Mikautadze, who provoked a great reaction from Betic goalkeeper Álvaro Valles from point-blank range.
The final minutes of the first half were for the Andalusians. At 40, Marc Bartra was left alone in front of the goal, but goalkeeper Luiz Júnior was remarkable to get the ball out with one hand and leave the match at zero.
Deserved triumph
The additional time was the scene to confirm a slight drop in the intensity of the yellows, against the good moment of the green and whites who tried to control the actions with faster transitions.
This is what happened to the 57 minutes, opportune moment for the opening of the scoreboard for the Santiago DT squad. On the right point, where Antony’s center forced a short rejection from the Yellow Submarine defense, the ball remained at the feet of Aitor Ruibal for him to score 1-0.
A hard blow for the Valencian Community squad that had only lost one of the last nine duels in LaLiga (2-0 against Barcelona), a record in which the remaining eight were victories.
Everything became even more complicated for the yellows in the final quarter of an hour. Santi Comesaña’s reckless foul against Giovani lo Celso ended with the red card for the visiting player, who left the Cartuja field completely desperate.
With seven minutes remaining, Pablo Fornals put more reassuring figures. The midfielder who also played for Villarreal tried a powerful cross shot for the final 2-0 for the Sevillians.
