Brilliant Villarreal dismantle Athletic Bilbao to tighten their grip on fifth place
With their hopes of a first Champions League finish since 2015/16 all but dead in the water, Villarreal’s attention moved to this crunch contest in LaLiga’s top six race.
Considering what was at stake, it was little surprise to see the intent of both sides on display as an end-to-end opening ensued. The lightning tempo of the early stages saw Athletic ‘keeper Unai Simon forced into a wonderful block as he magnificently turned Yeremi Pino’s diving header onto the woodwork.
Pepe Reina was next to show his shot-stopping abilities by thwarting Nico Williams after he was set through by his brother Iñaki.
There was nothing any keeper would have done about Villarreal’s opener with 23 minutes gone however, as Alex Baena expertly curled his free-kick past a rooted Simon.
That superb effort appeared to settle the hosts, and, after a spell of dominance, Nicolas Jackson tapped in a sixth goal from his last seven league games after the ball broke to him in the box.
The first-half drama didn’t end there as Oihan Sancet’s penalty gave Athletic a boost right on the stroke of half-time.
The visitors failed to carry that momentum into the second-half however, and with just five minutes gone Jackson completed his brace courtesy of another close-range finish.
The offside flag denied Villarreal another goal just minutes later, with Athletic clearly on the ropes and wobbling.
A failure to win any of the previous eight meetings proves the historical toughness of this fixture for Villarreal, but this evening became a cakewalk when a fourth eventually arrived via Aitor Paredes’ own goal.
That unfortunate event was the final nail in the Athletic coffin and they struggled to rouse themselves for a comeback in front of a baying home crowd.
Baena’s second and Villarreal’s fifth rounded off a highly-satisfactory day for Quique Setien’s side late on, with his men having now all but secured a top-six finish.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alex Baena (Villarreal)
