Senna Wonder-Goal Sees Villarreal Clear In Second

It was the kind of match that neither side deserved to lose, but one in which a single moment of class made the difference.

Senna's memorable strike from inside the centre-circle made for an away win, but Betis, despite perhaps having slightly fewer chances and seeing less of the ball, certainly had their own opportunities to level the scores.

First Half

Neither side looked particularly settled to start with, meaning that staggered back and midfield lines were susceptible to being ran at by enterprising midfielders. Xisco, out on the left flank, looked the part at one end, while the energetic Marcos Senna did so at the other.

However, it took 12 minutes for the first chance to emerge, and it came from Xisco. However, Diego López was the equal of his speculative effort. José Marí then fired one wide as Villarreal sat back.

The Yellow Submarine, though, had the ball in the net quarter of an hour in amidst bizarre circumstances. Seizing the ball in the centre-circle, Marcos Senna looked up and hit a deft lob from fully fifty yards. With Casto off his line, the ball swerved, dipped, and sailed into the top-right corner for one of the most memorable goals of the entire campaign.

Capi and Xisco had their chances, but Villarreal had been emboldened by that strike, meaning that first Rossi and then Nihat were able to carve out opportunities. The Turk's effort was particularly impressive, but Casto atoned for being off his line earlier with a great reflex save.

Villarreal looked the part going forward and in midfield, but Gonzalo was slightly shaky at the back, meaning that José Marí saw plenty of the ball as half time approached. However, despite a brief flurry of activity just before the break, there was to be no more goalmouth action. Indeed, the most notable incident leading up to half-time was an apparent elbow from Juanito on Capdevila, which went unnoticed by referee Teixeira Vitienes.

Second Half

Ángel came on for Javi Venta as Villarreal looked to reshuffle their defence on the right, although the first chance came from the other side. José Marí got on the end of a cross from the flank, rising above Gonzalo, but his effot flew over the bar, as did a strong strike a few minutes later.

Indeed, Villarreal were starting to make errors as they hesitated on the ball in midfild - their wing game was starting to desert them. This allowed Betis to press forward continually until around the hour mark, but there was little cutting edge in the final third.

Paco Chaparro introduced Pavone for Odonkor in an attempt to find that killer ball, but as time wore down Villarreal began to appear slightly more comfortable in possession. That didn't stop Betis, who by now had their wide attackers pressed way forward, from attempting to pull one back, though.

Mati Fernández, on as a substitute, came close on a rare Yellow Submarine break forward, but the best chance of the closing stages fell to a Bético, namely captain Juanito. The defender slammed a volley full-force towards goal from inside the box after a corner, but Diego Lopez was able to get claw it just clear of the goalmouth scramble with a fine reflex save.

Pavone headed over with Diego López beaten less than ten minutes later at the pressure continued, but Villarreal, steeled by the introduction of target man Jon-Dahl Tomasson, were beginning to feel that the job was done.

When full time came, though, there was clearly relief from the visitors. While they had the best of the first half, and had some brilliant individual performances from the likes of López and Senna, Betis came close to equalising in the second period. That they didn't was perhaps down to luck.


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