Villarreal secured their third victory in four matches by defeating Valencia 2-1 in the Derbi de la Comunitat in LaLiga, which marked Los Che’s third loss in six league encounters.
In a controversial moment, Villarreal was denied a penalty in the first minute when Nicolas Pepe was fouled.
Shortly thereafter, he sustained a cut above his eye within the first five minutes of the highly anticipated Villarreal vs Valencia match.
According to fans, the derby was characterised by its physicality but disappointingly lacked attacking opportunities at both ends, with Pape Gueye’s free-kick being the sole shot on target during the initial 20 minutes.
At the 22-minute mark, Umar Sadiq of Los Che was taken out by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior, resulting in a penalty that Largie Ramazani converted effortlessly, marking his second goal in consecutive games and breaking the deadlock.
Red card issued amid Villarreal vs Valencia match
A red card was issued to a member of the hosts’ backroom staff after Pepe was denied another penalty, which reflected the match’s contentious nature.
However, this incident was soon overshadowed when Valencia failed to clear a cross, allowing Santi Comesana to score an equaliser in the 30th minute.
In stoppage time, Ramazani was deemed to have handled the ball when blocking Pepe’s cross inside the box, and Gueye maintained his composure to finish with his left foot, turning the match in Villarreal’s favor.
Both teams made two substitutions with 20 minutes remaining, leading to a more chaotic game, and one of the substitutes, Arnaut Danjuma, nearly equalised for the visitors with 12 minutes left, only to be thwarted by Luiz Junior.
In the end, the hosts managed to maintain their lead, extending Villarreal’s unbeaten head-to-head streak in the league to five matches, continuing to set the LaLiga campaign on track.
They finally executed a ninth consecutive unbeaten home meeting against Los Che, their longest streak against Valencia in the Spanish top division.
