Europa Conference League Roundup: Villarreal clinch thriller with last-minute goal
Villarreal are flying in the league, having not lost in four outings, whilst holding an incredible record as the only top-flight club from Europe’s 15 highest-ranked member associations to have not conceded a league goal in 2022/23.
Manager Unai Emery made changes to the entire XI who defeated Elche 4-0 last time out however, and Villarreal were shocked inside two minutes when a quite calamitous spell of passing in their backline resulted in Michal Skoras tapping into an empty net.
Villarreal’s inexperienced side bounced back impressively and found their cutting edge against a Poznan outfit that has not advanced beyond the group stage of a European competition since 2010/11. Although it took a moment of magic, as Samuel Chukwueze’s stunning 15-yard volley left visiting ‘keeper Filip Bednarek grasping at thin air.
One quickly became two when Alex Baena’s effort from outside the area took a cruel deflection before rippling the net, and Baena grabbed his second of the half with a clever turn and finish.
In a steamy Ciutat de Valencia, the temporary home of the hosts due to refurbishments on the Estadio de la Ceramica, Poznan struck back immediately after the break, as Villarreal defender Aissa Mandi was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area, before Mikael Ishak smashed home confidently from the spot.
This wasn’t the same Submarine that reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last campaign and it told when they were ripped apart by Skoras’ through ball, before Ishak did the honours with a composed side-foot finish.
An end-to-end contest ensued with Villarreal always looking the more likely to find the winner, and find it they did, with a quite stunning volley from Yeremy Pino settling a fantastically entertaining contest for the neutral.
The victory in spite of a changed lineup reinforced the idea that Villarreal are one of the heavy favourites in this competition and Unai Emery will be highly satisfied with his side’s display ahead of their visit to Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal)
Find all the stats on Flashscore
In other fixtures:
Nice and FC Koln had their match in Southern France delayed by almost an hour due to crowd trouble in the stands. In the end, the match ended 1-1.
Six goals were scored in the Czech Republic as Partizan Belgrade came back from two down and a red card to go 3-2 up. However, a late leveller from Libor Kozak ensured that Slovacko secured a point as it finished 3-3.
Scottish Hearts were torn apart by Istanbul side Basaksehir in Edinburgh. The Turkish outfit ran away with a 4-0 thumping.
Fiorentina could only collect a point at home against Latvian side RFS despite dominating the match. The game finished 1-1 in Florence, an uninspiring start by the Italian side who are fancied to go far in the tournament.
FC Ballkani and CFR Cluj played out a 1-1 draw, Austria Vienna and H. Beer Sheva also drew, 0-0. Meanwhile, Anderlecht started their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Silkeborg.