December 01, (THEWILL) – Villarreal CF secured their place in the Copa del Rey second round after defeating Victoria CF 0-8 at Riazor, with four goals scored in each half.
Alberto Moreno netted a brace while Assa Mandi, Paco Alcácer, Samuel Chukwueze, Gerard Moreno, Boulaye Dia, and Nikita Iosifov scored the rest of the goals.
Villarreal manager Unai Emery handed out debuts to Adrián de la Fuente and Dani Tasende as the manager used the clash in Victoria at the famous stadium, Riazor, to give minutes to players who had not seen much action previously. Dela, a defender for Villarreal B, also made his first team debut in Galicia.
Emery’s team outperformed their opponents, who held the game goalless for the first 15 minutes thanks to their hard work. However, Alberto Moreno broke the deadlock for the Yellows, scoring twice in less than five minutes to break the tie.
The first goal came after a fantastic one-two with Paco Alcácer, which culminated with the left flank player tipping the ball into the net. For the second, Villareal’s number 18 drove a long-range strike into the net.
Mandi scored the evening’s third goal with a header from a corner swung in from the right just before the half-hour mark. Alcácer scored the fourth ten minutes later, capitalising on a defensive blunder. At halftime, the score was 0-4.
It could have been more, but Jano, the goalkeeper for the home team, put in a strong showing.
After a great Dani Raba dummy, Nigeria’s Chukwueze found the back of the net with a thunderous drive at the start of the second half. Emery substituted in Gerard Moreno, who was returning from injury, with half an hour remaining.
Gerard scored within ten minutes with a header from a corner, the current Zarra Trophy winner struck the back of the net. Dia added a seventh goal after a left-wing cross from Alberto Moreno. There was still time for one more and, Iosifov scored for a glorious debut.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
