Villarreal disposed of Cádiz 3-0 tonight before a less-than-half full El Madrigal to move on in the Copa del Rey. Our next opponents will be Real Sociedad, who put us out last year.
The first half was quite poor; Cadiz's only real chance to score came from a Tomas Pina error which led to a quick rush forward, but Israel Puerto sprawled to clear the cross that would have found an onrushing attacker. Villarreal had a great chance to take the lead four minutes before the half, but Nahuel Leiva put his shot wide after being set up by Javier Espinosa.
HT Villarreal 0-0 Cádiz
Cadiz had a chance to score early in the second half following a Trigueros turnover, but Juan Carlos made a fine save of a low shot. Marcelino hauled off Nahuel, Moi coming on, and this almost immediately paid dividends as Moi and Jose Naranjo combined to create danger, Moi pulled the ball back for an onrunning Jaume Costa, who was tripped in the box. Trigueros stepped up and converted the penalty--the first one Villarreal have had in any competition this season.
Trigueros and Naranjo soon made way for Gio dos Santos and Bruno, and the remainder of the match was spent mostly in the Cadiz half. Gio had two great chances to score after great setups, but the keeper saved one, he put the other over--too bad, would have given him confidence for sure ahead of returning to league action.
Gerard Moreno scored two fine goals, bringing him to nine on the season; the first was assisted by Moi, the second came from a Jaume Costa cross. The final score maybe flattered us abit given how bad the first half was, but was a fair result given that Cadiz really had no ideas for the last 40 minutes of the match.
FT Villarreal 3-0 Cádiz
The big takeaway from this match, to be honest, was the stupidity of this competition in requiring these ties to be played over two legs. Had this been a one-off match in Cadiz, that would have been interesting; as it was, the home legs of almost all of these ties involving a Primera and a lower-division side are pretty poor, Sr. Roig presented a plan to change the Copa to that sort of format several years ago, but of course it went nowhere.
My players of the match: Gerard, Moi, Jaune Costa, Israel Puerto.