Villarreal settle for Real Betis draw after Pepe Reina howler

Villarreal were forced to settle for a home draw against European rivals Real Betis on Sunday night.

Pepe Reina’s huge error allowed Betis to take a first-half lead, with Yeremy Pino going on to get the leveller.

The Yellows dominated the early proceedings, but they lacked any kind of cutting edge, with Betis sitting deep.

In truth, Manuel Pellegrini’s men produced a pretty tame performance across the evening, and they were always going to need some help getting on the scoresheet.

Fortunately for them, Reina appeared to be in the mood for giving, and after he spilled what should have been a routine catch behind him, Borja Iglesias was on hand to tap home for the visitors.

Betis took their lead into the break, although, they were fortunate not to see it erased shortly after when Gerard Moreno’s effort deflected just over the top corner.

Villarreal were forced to be patient, but they got their reward when Ramon Terrats - who was excellent again here - delivered a superb ball to find Yeremy at the far post. The winger kept his nerve to turn home first time.

The assistant initially flagged for offside - and it was mightily tight - but VAR reviewed the footage and awarded a goal.

The Yellows continued to dominate, but clear-cut chances remained hard to come by, as you might expect given how closely matched the two sides are.

Substitute Jose Luis Morales thought he had scored late on, but he was correctly flagged offside.

Villarreal were forced to settle for a draw, and it must be said, had Reina not made his error, it looked unlikely Betis would find a goal given their lack of bite all evening.

The result means Villarreal remain four points behind Betis in the table, and seven behind Real Sociedad in fourth.