News
MIÉ 17.08.2016
Nightmare start
The evening could hardly have got off to a worse start for Villarreal CF. A mere three minutes after the first whistle, Alfred N'Diaye brought down Thomas Lemar in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Fabinho stepped up and duly converted, dealing Fran Escriba's charges a body blow.
Scrappy stuff
Following the early breakthrough, neither team managed to take control of the match. Villarreal were guilty of rushing things in possession and struggled to threaten the Monaco area, while the visitors showed more presence of mind, but were happy to sit back and look to double their lead on the counter-attack.
Debut goal for Pato
As the minutes ticked by, however, the Yellow Submarine grew into the game and managed to mount more forays into the danger zone. So it was that debutant Alexandre Pato restored parity in the 36th minute, heading home a cross from Mexican starlet Rafael Santos Borre, who was also making his bow. The Brazilian forward's equaliser was not only his first strike for Villarreal, on his first competitive appearance for the club no less, it was also his first European goal since way back in November 2012.
Monaco have the last laugh
Just when Villarreal looked at their strongest, the away side struck again. Bernardo Silva's powerful drive from inside the box gave Sergio Asenjo no chance and silenced the El Madrigal crowd. The Spaniards proved unable to level the encounter for a second time and so will head to the Stade Louis II next Tuesday needing to pull off a turnaround if they are to make it through to the Champions League group stage.
© LALIGA - 2016