Antony stops the rise of Villarreal | Soccer | Sports | EUROtoday
Two objectives from Antony sealed the ultimate tie and confirmed that Betis’ assortment of particular person abilities weigh as a lot as Villarreal’s talent. The La Plana crew managed to take a 2-0 lead however couldn’t handle the vertigo of going forward in a match that settled a great a part of the destiny of the 2 predominant contenders for fourth place within the League standings. The doorways of the Champions League and financial development. Equality leaves issues as they have been: 4th place for Villarreal with 17 factors, fifth for Betis with 16.

2
Arnau Tenas, Rafa Marín, Alfonso Pedraza (Manor Solomon, min. 80), Renato Veiga, Pau Navarro, Santi Comesaña, Alberto Moleiro (Sergi Cardona, min. 72), Tajon Buchanan, Dani Parejo (Pape Gueye, min. 72), Tani Oluwaseyi (Ayoze Pérez, min. 62) and Gerard Moreno (Nicolas Pépé, min. 62)
2

Pau López, Valentín Gómez, Héctor Bellerín (Pablo García, min. 89), Junior Firpo, Natan, Marc Roca (Giovani Lo Celso, min. 56), Sofyan Amrabat, Antony, Abde Ezzalzouli (Aitor Ruibal, min. 68), Pablo Fornals and Cucho Hernández
Goals
1-0 min. 43: Buchanan Buchanan. 2-0 min. 63: Alberto Molei. 2-1 min. 65: Antony. 2-2 min. 93: Antony
Referee Francisco José Hernández Maeso
yellow playing cards
Sofan Alk. 89), Tajon Buchan (all. 89)
Protected by the imperious Natan’s community and properly managed by Roca, Amrabat and Fornals, Betis stepped onto the La Cerámica pitch with the assured air of groups that know they’re superior to their rival. With arguments. The midfield belonged to the Andalusian crew from the beginning and the forwards’ strings sounded out of sympathy. The very gifted Antony on the appropriate, the courageous Abde on the left, and the tireless Cucho within the center, started to contact the ball in conditions of obvious hazard. Therein lies the key of this Villarreal. In the administration of instances and appearances, so equivocal, so conducive to misleading phantasm. Football is like that and the Villarreal gamers, led by Zorro Marcelino, understand it.
Where Betis put extra expertise, Villarreal scrambled with extra ingenuity. Parked of their area for lengthy minutes, Villarreal gave an impression of vulnerability that confused their rival, excessively affected person, even lackadaisical within the completion of the performs. Betis appeared to have the whole lot beneath management when, following a seemingly irrelevant throw-in, Valentín Gómez misjudged his exit from the zone and left his protection bought. Moleiro stole the ball and gave it to Buchanan, who crossed it from exterior the world. A shocking blow and Betis fell into the lure.
The 1-0 rating pushed Betis right into a rush and reaffirmed the convictions of Villarreal, who have been more and more impervious of their space. Sure that the overseas domination of the ball and the sector didn’t essentially make him dominated. This is how Villarreal was, firmly organized in entrance of its goalkeeper, ready for one more shot from its opponent, when from its area, out of the blue, it linked a dizzying motion. Betis have been urgent excessive when Comesaña slipped away and threw a tense move to Pépé, who disputed place with Natan. In a second, the hearth broke out the place the hearth was least anticipated.
Natan cleared, however not with sufficient pressure, and Pépé persevered to attach with Comesaña, who accompanied the play to the rival space in a coordinated assault. His move to Moleiro put Amrabat out of sq., who couldn’t shut the countless angle of the assault. Villarreal’s second objective, with half an hour left within the sport, resonated like a sentence in La Cerámica. The city was a celebration. After 9 days of the League, the native crew continued so as to add victories on their house area. This one appeared secure. So positive that the yellow gamers got here out on high. “We made the mistake of going for 3-0,” Comesaña mentioned on Movistar+, on the finish of the match, “when it seemed like we had everything under control.”
Thus, the sport of illusions, that dimension of the matches that Marcelino masters so properly, turned towards his gamers, excited by a consequence that ended up deceiving them. On the counterattack, towards an unusually sparse protection within the transition, Antony made it 2-1. Just two minutes had handed after 2-0 and the sport took on a one-way drift. Revolted of their pleasure, Betis ended up cornering Villarreal of their space. In the 94th minute, the spark was lit: Lo Celso and Fornals performed with one contact and Antony chilled Tenas with an on the spot shot. The tie closed a phenomenal duel that leaves the classification because it was and predicts an extended combat for the coveted fourth place within the championship.
https://elpais.com/deportes/futbol/2025-10-18/antony-frena-la-crecida-del-villarreal.html