Atleti draw at Villarreal in thriller
Our team drew 2-2 at Villarreal on Sunday as Correa and Kondogbia scored our goals. The African was sent off towards the end of the match and Oblak saved a penalty.
Atleti and Villarreal drew 2-2 at the Estadio de la Cerámica in a spectacular Sunday night clash. Correa and Kondogbia – who was later sent off – scored our goals.
It was a thrilling game from the get-go – with the hosts dominating in the opening moments. However, our team took the lead 10’ into the clash through a sensational Correa goal. The Argentine intercepted a pass and scored from the halfway line. The hosts almost equalised immediately as Moreno’s strike hit the post. Atleti kept going and were very close to doubling the leading twice. First, Cunha had a massive chance, but Rulli saved the one on one. Correa then scored a beautiful backheel goal, but it was disallowed due to an offside position. Those were our best minutes of the first half. Unfortunately, Villarreal are a great side and they reacted. They were awarded a penalty and Oblak saved it. Parejo got first to the rebound and scored with his hand, and the goal was disallowed following a VAR check. But Emery’s side did equalise a few minutes later through Pau Torres, who got first to the ball after Oblak couldn’t block it. We eventually reached half-time with the score at 1-1 following an exciting first half.
Both sides struggle to create as many chances after the break. However, Villarreal netted their second goal of the match some 15’ into the second half. Alberto Moreno was the goalscorer. Simeone reacted immediately with a triple substitution as Vrsaljko, Koke and João Félix replaced Lodi, De Paul and Cunha. Our changes paid off as Kondogbia equalised just four minutes later from the edge of the box. Atleti attacked constantly after that, and came close to scoring the third several times. The biggest chance was for Lemar, but a defender got in the way just in time. Both sides looked for the winner and the game had one last twist as the referee sent Kondogbia off just before stoppage time. The game ultimately ended 2-2 at Villarreal.
