Encouraging Chukwueze offers Villarreal hope amid extended poor La Liga run

Unai Emery’s pre-match bullishness before Villarreal travelled to Valencia on Friday night was quite noteworthy.

For a manager whose team’s winless run in La Liga read seven games, he seemed pretty assured when he addressed the remote media before the derby at the Mestalla.

“A derby is always a very special game. Games between Valencia and Villarreal have always been vibrant and exciting,” Emery asserted in Thursday’s press conference. “We’ve dropped down a couple of places. We want to recover, compete and fight to be in Europe.

“We have continued to work on dynamics where the team is comfortable. We have to improve on certain errors that we have committed. [On Friday], we will try and put it into practice. It is a game that excites all of us.”

Much of that positive disposition was a consequence of the Yellow Submarine’s performance in their 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Sunday night. Despite dominating Diego Simeone’s side at the Estadio de la Ceramica, Emery’s men somehow conceded two goals against the run of play.

The returning Samuel Chukwueze was one of Villarreal’s bright spots against Atleti on his first La Liga start since January. Strangely, the side didn’t secure maximum points in the top flight in the winger’s absence but he rewarded Emery’s choice to start him with a lively performance.

No player on the pitch fashioned out more shooting opportunities than the Nigerian’s four, who made the most of his dribbling ability on the night to find space. He completed a game-high four dribbles against the side from Madrid and his showing saw him rewarded as the Budweiser Man of the Match despite ending on the losing side.

The fact Chukwueze played the entire 90 minutes was a rarity in itself and it validated the quality performance of the West African against Los Colchoneros. It was only the second time the 21-year-old has stayed on the pitch for the whole game, having been withdrawn on five occasions after starting, but he made it three after Friday’s derby.

Defeat by Valencia hurt a visibly disappointed Emery who was four minutes away from success before a late Los Che turnaround turned the game on its head.

A Carlos Soler penalty with four minutes of normal time to play and brilliant Goncalo Guedes finish with three minutes to play cancelled out Gerard Moreno’s first-half opener to extend their winless La Liga run to eight games.

Friday’s showing was different from Sunday’s performance in that Valencia just about edged possession (52-48) and out-shot the visitors significantly (25-10). Be that as it may, Emery’s team created better chances throughout the game and, at least, deserved a point despite facing a barrage of shots from the hosts.

Chukwueze may have been on the pitch for the whole game but he faded after half-time at the Mestalla. Perhaps his manager left him on the pitch owing to an encouraging first-half display in which he was involved in some of the away side’s best moments.

He drifted infield from his wide right position in the seventh minute and dragged his shot wide from a tight angle having been slipped through. Largely hugging the line in Villareal’s 4-4-2, the young winger was often isolated on that flank owing to Juan Foyth’s unwillingness to push forward from right-back.

Still, Chukwueze’s tactical obligation to stay wide very nearly led to the opening goal for the visitors in the 36th minute where a cross found him in acres of space, and he set up his teammate for a big chance only to have Jose Gaya clear off the line.

The wide attacker smartly positioned himself away from the bodies in the box and was denied a third league assist by brilliant defending from the covering defender.

Regardless of the immediate disappointment, a penalty was strangely awarded against Gaya who’d unwittingly handled from the initial cross in the build-up. Moreno scored from the spot to put the Yellow Submarine 1-0 up in the 40th minute.

Five minutes later, the Nigerian’s speed and upper body strength saw him outpace and outmuscle Hugo Guillamon before setting up Paco Alcacer, but the striker was thwarted by Jasper Cillessen. Making it 2-0 just before the break would have put Villarreal in a perfect position going into the second half and they were to rue that missed opportunity in the end as Valencia rallied after the break.

A dissatisfied Emery lamented missed opportunities in both halves in his post-match interview, suggesting his side missed the chance to pick up maximum points and end their poor run.

“It is a missed opportunity to claim the three points. Victory has escaped us in the end,” the Valencia boss reflected following the game. “We may not have started the game well, but we have had chances and, with 0-1, we have not been able to secure the result. In the last minutes, the penalty play gave them strength and the last counterattack gave them the winning goal.”

Despite the loss, the performance of Chukwueze and opportunities created in the last two games indicate that the Yellow Submarine may turn the corner sooner rather than later.