Eibar dominated the first half but end up beaten by an effective Villarreal

Eibar were left without reward in a game they clearly dominated until the 35th minute, but in which Villarreal were able to come back from an initial goal by Ander Capa to leave Ipurua with the three points.

The armeros started brightly and with speed and before the end of the first minute. Borja Bastón was on the point of scoring in a move in which he got behind the defence.

Mendilibar’s team clearly had the initiative and enjoyed more chances, like Inui’s shot in the 8th minute, having won a 50-50 ball following a corner, but his shot was blocked by the defence.

The home side’s goal came in the 22nd minute with Jota crossing from the byline and the ball, after touching Borja, arrived at the feet of Ander Capa whose hard shot opened the scoring.

Following the goal, Villarreal played with more space between their lines and scored on their first clear chance of the game. Riesgo repelled a first shot by Soldado but the ball came to Adrián, who scored into an empty net from the far post.

The team from Castellón came out at the restart with more conviction and as a result the 1-2 arrived in a confusing moment of play that saw the linesman raise his flag because Soldado was offside but the referee, interpreting his position as legal because the ball had rebounded off an Eibar player, allowed the goal to stand.

Eibar players kept trying and fought until the final minute but Villarreal knew how to manage their slender lead perfectly and left Ipurua, a ground on which they had never previously been victorious, with the three points.