Villarreal's Yellow Submarine sent off course in UCL quest by Vallecano
The hosts had the only presentable chance of the opening exchanges as Álex Baena put Yeremy Pino through, but the 20-year-old flashed his shot across Stole Dimitrievski’s goal when he should have hit the target at the very least. Yeremy then turned provider on 18 minutes when he hung up an inviting cross for Gerard Moreno, only for the striker’s header to drift over.
The big chances were being carved out solely by Villarreal at this point as Baena’s dipping 20-yard strike was palmed away by Dimitrievski at full stretch, before the North Macedonia international reacted well to keep out Étienne Capoué on the follow-up. Samuel Chukwueze was next to go close, the Nigerian just curling past the far post after a dizzying passing move.
However, with half-time approaching, Rayo had their first effort on target - and the best opportunity of the first period. Camello’s ball across deflected off several Villarreal bodies and dropped to Pathé Ciss with his back to goal and in space, yet the midfielder - who had scored just four times in 53 games for Rayo before today - backheeled straight at LaLiga debutant Filip Jörgensen when he had time to swivel and shoot.
Shortly after the break, an Alberto Moreno piledriver brushed the top of the bar, before Iraola made the first changes on 63 minutes as Pep Chavarría and Unai López replaced Andrés Martín and Ciss, and not long afterwards, Rayo unexpectedly took the lead. Óscar Trejo produced a wonderful pass round the corner for Camello to speed clear of a sleeping Villarreal backline, before sidefooting past Jörgensen from a tight angle, although the Denmark youth international’s positioning and inability to get more on the shot will have raised eyebrows.
Villarreal looked to mount a response, but despite having more than 60% possession, they ultimately struggled to break down the visitors, with Gerard Moreno fluffing his lines during the first of nine minutes of added time as Rayo held on for a huge win that puts them within two points of the European places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Stole Dimitrievski (Rayo Vallecano)