Villarreal Edge Out Almeria

Villarreal 2-1 Almeria

Villarreal looked to close the gap on leaders Barcelona this afternoon when they hosted Almeria. Fresh from their emphatic win against Athletic Bilbao last weekend, coach Manuel Pellegrini continued with the prolific Giuseppe Rossi and Fernando Llorente upfront, while 35-year-old Robert Pires kept his place in midfield. Almeria have a decent record on the road, picking up seven points from five matches, and they were hoping Alvaro Negredo could add to his five goals so far this campaign.

However, if you are going to visit El Madrigal, it is a necessity to stay tight in the opening exchanges and try to subdue the crowd by keeping the shackles on Villarreal’s front pairing of Rossi and Llorente. If you do that, you have a chance.

What you don’t want to do is give The Yellow Submarines licence to attack freely. Almeria did exactly that, and they found themselves 2-0 down within fifteen minutes.

Before the majority of those in attendance has settled in their seats, the Italian Rossi had found the net and Almeria were faced with a mountain to climb so early into the game- within sixty seconds in fact. It was an absolutely stunning effort from all of thirty yards, and testament to the confidence that the young striker has at the moment.

Things didn’t get any better for the away side. Pires whipped a cross in from the right hand side and it was met gleefully by Llorente, who slid the ball home with his left foot and gave his side a dream start. Almeria were playing catch-up after being undone by the slick and stylish nature of the Villarreal attack.

But Gonzalo Arconada’s side weren’t ready to give up and managed to create a few openings of their own. The dangerous Negredo drew a decent save from Diego Lopez, and then smashed over the bar at the start of the second period when he perhaps should have hit the target.

But then Almeria did get the goal that their response to going behind deserved. The promising Pablo Piatti, who netted an excellent goal last week against Real Madrid, took advantage of a defensive mix-up from
Villarreal to bring his side back into the match, and leave opposition coach Manuel Pellegrini with a concerned look on his face. His side have a habit of making things difficult for themselves, and after such a good start, they were doing it the hard way again today.

In order to see the match out the Chilean supremo withdrew frontman Rossi and put on Ibagaza to go with five in midfield, such was his concern that Almeria could grab an unlikely draw.

It is no exaggeration to say that Almeria were the dominant force in the second period, and but for their awful start could have taken so much more from the game.

But despite their pressure and possession they couldn't find a leveller and Villarreal gained a valuable three points in their title tilt - but they certainly didn't have things all their own way.

Goals:
Villarreal:
Rossi (1’), Llorente (15’)

Almeria:
Piatti (63’)

Teams:
Villarreal: Diego Lopez; Javi Venta, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevilla, Pires, Senna, Bruno (Eguren 64'), Cazorla, Llorente (Franco 55’), Rossi (Ibagaza 70’)

Almeria: Diego Alves, Saltor, Uche (Soriano 62'), Juanito, Alvarez, Crusat, Chico, Mane, Pellerano, Piatti (Ortiz 70'), Negredo (Solari 72’)


La Liga Preview: Villarreal - UD Almeria
Player Ratings: Villarreal 4-4 Atlético de Madrid
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