Villarreal C hand Olímpic Xàtiva their first defeat

Villarreal C defeated Olímpic Xàtiva 3-0 today in Vila-real; this is the first loss for the visitors this season (they had been Spain’s only remaining unbeaten club in the top four divisions).

The match was not without its controversy, though. Villarreal led 1-0 through a first-half goal when in the 75th minute a Villarreal C attack was broken up on the goal line and our player Pedrito was knocked in to the advertising hoarding behind—the referee paid no attention to him.

The ball never went out, and after about 15 seconds, Pedrito ran back onto the field of play, just in time to intercept a backpass from an Olimpic defender to his keeper. He rounded the keeper and put the ball in the net. Olimpic protested, there was a brief brawl, but the goal stood. If you want to see the sequence, go here, and pick up the sequence at about 75:20 on the game clock!

By now Olimpic were down to nine men, Villarreal were playing with 10, and so it was no surprise when the home side added a third goal from Dario Poveda just at the end of regulation. The referee, perhaps wisely in the circumstances, opted against adding back the five minutes that had been spent arguing and taking names after our second goal, and blew the whistle after only a minute of extra time.

With this win Villarreal C is now third, on 66 points. Of course, unless Villarreal B can make the Segunda B playoffs, it really doesn’t matter. The B-boys won away for the first time in a good while, defeating Espanyol B 2-0. They are five points away from a playoff spot, though, and only seven matches remain.

Endavant!