Alex Baena secures draw for Villarreal against Sevilla but Unai Emery’s men deserved more

Villarreal had to settle for a point against Sevilla on Sunday afternoon.

The Yellows were looking to bounce back from a defeat to Real Betis last week weekend following an impressive start to the campaign.

But they didn’t get off to the best start, conceding within 10 minutes, with Oliver Torres finding the bottom corner after some very distant defending.

After 30 minutes, Unai Emery made the bold decision to substitute Giovani Lo Celso - who wasn’t injured - for Alex Baena.

And the change would pay off in the second half, when Baena latched on to a through ball to knock the ball home with the help of the ball rebounding off his long following the initial effort.

Villarreal had chances to win it, and they thought they had won a penalty only for an offside to be found in the build-up by VAR.

Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Arnaut Danjuma came close with an acrobatic effort late on, while Jose Luis Morales saw two efforts saved by substitute goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic.

Villarreal were much the better team here, but they couldn’t make their chances count in the absence of star striker Gerard Moreno.

The Yellows are now left in sixth heading into the international break, but that’s no real concern.

Emery’s men are one point off fourth place - at time of writing - having played Atletico Madrid, Real Betis and Sevilla in their first six games.

They face Cadiz, Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Almeria in their first four La Liga games after the break.