Friday, May 18th, 2012
Juan Carlos Garrido celebrated the signing of a new contract with a victory at La Romareda, as his Villarreal side comfortably won 0-3 against relegation favourites Real Zaragoza. The 3 points completed a superb week for the 41-year old, as he inked a new 3-year deal with the club.
The home side did start brightly enough, as they had a few decent little spells of passing with the intention of gently easing themselves into the game and with it gain confidence. That was the problem though, the look of the players was the epitome of nervousness, and you felt if they did have to endure pressure they’d crumble.
That was soon to be the case, as Villarreal started to exert their approach on proceedings all the more. It was Santi Cazorla who began seeing a lot of the ball as he attempted to influence things in an attacking variety, due to the absence of his talented partner in midfield Borja Valero.
All that pressure and tidy play was to pay off however, as another decent attack forced a corner. From the resulting set-piece the ball was poorly cleared by Matteo Contini who could only clear as far as Marcos Senna, and the Captain took a touch to control then hit a sweet volley into the top corner which Leo Franco had no chance of getting to.
Groans all around La Romareda began to sound, and they grew more still when Jiri Jarosik was guilty of more poor distribution out of the back-line, hitting several aimless balls forward and not playing simple passes at the right moment.
Zaragoza weren’t applying enough pressure in midfield, allowing Villarreal to come forward with relative ease and getting as far as the penalty box edge numerous times. They were punished for such slack play soon after though, as Cazorla picked up the ball and looped in a lovely effort from 20 yards out. It was one of those where you might ask if he meant it, but replays appeared to show the winger clearly looking up to see Franco off his line ever so slightly.
With that Javier Aguirre’s side attempted to get forward more frequently, but despite them passing the ball slightly better than previously Los Submarino Amarillos were never truly troubled. Angel Lafita was primarily guilty of poor decision making in the final third for the Aragónese side, as his wayward crosses found no one in a white shirt.
Immediately after the break, Villarreal had an excellent chance to put the game beyond any doubt but Giuseppe Rossi spurned an excellent chance after getting the ball quite by chance after Nilmar had misfired.
Things were about to get much worse for Zaragoza though, and effectively killed any lingering hopes of a comeback. Contini was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence, after he petulantly tripped Cani. Seconds later, Villarreal found the net for a 3rd time – Cazorla picked up and ran with the ball before slipping a nice pass to Nilmar who finished in a cool manner with a dink over Franco.
With the result essentially being a foregone conclusion, Zaragoza offered little in the way of a response or any real fighting spirit. Braulio’s close range effort was the best they could offer, and that wasn’t much. Even Ander couldn’t spark his side to life once he was introduced, the talented midfielder himself being guilty of snatching at shots and poorly weighted passing.
The visitors were happy to coast out the final minutes, as they let their lowly opponents make their own mistakes that plagued them throughout the contest.
Real Zaragoza 0 – Villarreal 3 (Senna 9, Cazorla 18, Nilmar 65)
Tags: Aguirre, Garrido, La Liga, Nilmar, Real Zaragoza, Senna, Villarreal
