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José Luis Lizarraga put it succinctly in EPM this morning: our best match, but our worst loss!
El mejor partido llega junto a la peor derrota - Deportes - El Periódico Mediterraneo
We could have--should have--had a penalty in our favor early; we played with style, speed and so on, but couldn't dent the net. But even after Bruno's expulsion and even after Sporting's goal, we attacked and controlled play well. Cavenaghi's shot that Cuellar stopped at about the 70 minute mark--I swear the keeper had no idea where the ball was.
It might be tempting to see a return of the "old Villarreal" (last year's) in that we gave up goals late in each half, but given our numerical disadvantage (two players after Sangoy had injured Bordas!) I think that would be unfair.
Impressed yesterday with Mellberg, Lejeune also though I thought he was partly at fault for their first goal, and Mario. Impressed also with Velásquez--going to three at the back at HT when a goal down and a man down was gutsy. Though I didn't think the Bordas substitution helped much. My main concern is our attack: Cavenaghi has gone off the boil and doesn't seem to be capable of creating and finishing many chances, and neither Bordas nor Uche did anything once they came on yesterday.
Enric worries about the "collateral damage" (in other words, how long will Bruno be suspended):
Peor que la derrota, sus daños colaterales :: elperiodic.com
Bruno for his part has apologized to his teammates:
Bruno: "Pido perdón a mis compañeros" - Deportes - El Periódico Mediterraneo
And for those of us (myself at the top of the list, criticizing Cani, this is an interesting read. I'm delighted to read that Cani feels he can "give more"--DO IT THEN!
Cani: "Puedo dar más" - Deportes - El Periódico Mediterraneo
Finally, mention here of the Villarreal Ladies (Feminina) side, who are competing in the 7th Group of the Segunda Division. Unfortunately yesterday they ran up against a buzzsaw in the form of a Murcia side that won 4-0. Hard luck but let's look ahead to the next game against Guadalajara in Vila-real.