Girona 0-1 Villarreal: Key win for the Submarine

Not a great performance, but a great win for Villarreal as an early Samu Chukwueze goal held up—barely—for a 1-0 away win. I had predicted a 2-2 draw, and it could have been that, but the finishing, or lack thereof, plus a strong game from Sergio Asenjo, put pay to that.

At this point of the season we know what we have, we know who we are, so it’s rather pointless to note that Girona, a team averaging 10 shots per game all season, had 14 against us.

Big news of course is that Levante lost, Celta lost yesterday, Valladolid drew (Getafe getting a last-minute VAR penalty), so Villarreal find themselves in 15th, one point behind girona in 14th and ahead of 16th placed Levante by virtue of owning the tiebreak. We’re still only two points above the relegation zone, but at least we have other teams between us and 18th.

Next weekend four of the bottom six play each other: Celta Vigo host Girona, and Rayo host Huesca. Levante are home to Espanyol, Valladolid are away to Alavés, while Villarreal, of course, host Leganés. A win at home for us would mean we would pick up points on at least two of the other five teams in the bottom six, and possibly on four of them. All to play for—at least we are going into it after a win!!

MoTM: Asenjo.