Barcelona Overcomes Resilient Villarreal After Samuel Chukwueze’s Opener
Two goals from Antoine Griezmann saw Barcelona come from a goal down to beat a resilient Villarreal side 2-1 in their La Liga match after Samuel Chuwkwueze opened the scoring at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Spain.
Barcelona dominated possession early in the game, sending plenty of bodies forward and moving the ball quickly and creatively to create plenty of chances.
Villarreal stunned the visitors after Pau Torres great pass found Nigerian international Chukwueze, who took advantage of a slip from Jordi Alba to enter the box, round Marc-André ter Stegen to finish off from a tight angle to give the Yellow Submarine the lead.
The 21-year-old winger has now netted four goals in 21 appearances, a goal better than what he achieved last season and a goal shy of the five goals he scored in his first season in Spain.
Two minutes later, Barcelona equalised when Óscar Mingueza played a great ball over the top and Antoine Griezmann chipped Villarreal goalkeeper Asenjo.
Barcelona continued to press as they weren’t intending to underestimate this resilient Villarreal side, pushing for a second. Moments after, the visitors were rewarded.
Griezmann was in the right place at the right time and received a gift from Juan Foyth who tried a back pass but gave Griezmann a golden chance and the Frenchman didn’t waste it.
Villarreal came out very strong in the second half, pushing men forward and pressing higher up the pitch, while the visitors kept soaking up the pressure. The home team had a few very dangerous moments in and around the box, and although there wasn’t a true chance it felt like they could equalize at any moment.
Then Manu Trigueros was given a straight red card for a bad tackle on Lionel Messi, and things began to feel a little less complicated for Barcelona as Villarreal looked tired an stretched headed into the final 15 minutes.
The home team still didn’t give up and continued attacking which left them vulnerable to the counter.
Despite a few scares in stoppage time, Barcelona survived and claimed three valuable points in what was as tough a game as expected.
FULL TIME! #VillarrealBarça pic.twitter.com/LIDsmGGN08
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 25, 2021
Villarreal are now seventh on La Liga table and within the UEFA Europa League qualification bracket, while Barcelona are third on 71 points from 33 games.
HIGHLIGHTS | @AntoGriezmann double cancels out @chukwueze_8 opener in @FCBarcelona victory!
