Villarreal Chuk hat in the ring for Europe with victory
Having broken a 52-day drought with a first win in 2023 against Valencia, a confident Getafe side cruised to take the lead in under 10 minutes. Compounding Villarreal’s misery, Turkish forward Enes Ünal met Djené’s impressive cross and flawlessly guided his header into the top left corner to draw first blood.
Eager to retaliate, ace Dani Parejo rallied the hosts to muster an equaliser with the sole target of ending their four-match losing streak – their longest such league run this century. Despite knitting quality passes in the middle-third, Quique Setién’s side could only do so much against Getafe’s structured style of play. However, just as the Azulones thought they struck a second via Nemanja Maksimović’s header, Pepe Reina executed a brilliant save that set in motion a counterattack, at the end of which Samuel Chukwueze fired home a rebound goal to draw level on terms.
The visitors’ hopes of inflicting yet another scoreless result for the hosts – as they did in the reverse fixture, was quickly put to bed. The Yellow Submarines were the ones with the momentum now, clinching the lead seven minutes into the second-half from José Luis Morales’ instinctive strike after Chukwueze’s supreme individual effort set him up. Seeking to instil some inspiration, Quique Sánchez Flores executed a trio of changes with 15 minutes to go, but could only watch his side succumb to a fourth straight away H2H defeat.
Despite striking the crossbar in the dying minutes via Borja Mayoral’s exquisite volley, Getafe ultimately proved to be a shadow of their first-half self, as they failed to secure a second successive victory for the first time since September 2022. The relegation contenders sit sandwiched between Valencia and Elche in 19th position, whereas Villarreal lift themselves back in search for a European spot after a torrid streak of winless results.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal)
