Relegation candidates Rayo Vallecano welcomed Champions League chasing Villarreal to the Estadio de Vallecas and sent them home with a 2-1 defeat.
Goals from Javi Guerra and Miku cancelled out Adrian’s strike for Villarreal as Rayo controlled the match against Marcelino’s team, who rang in the changes from their midweek Europa League match.
It was to be the home side who would open the scoring in the seventh minute through Guerra. The forward would receive the ball from Miku and then play it back to his strike partner, whose shot was parried by Alphonse Areola straight into his path for the early lead.
The goal seemed to awaken the visitors as they began to mount pressure. That would be telling in the 20th minute as an exquisite chipped through ball by Jonathon Dos Santos picked out Adrian, who slotted past Juan Carlos in the Rayo goal.
The second-half was a tight affair filled with fouls and yellow cards, as both sides pushed hard against the other.
It took until the 81st minute for the deadlock to be broken and it was Miku for Vallecano getting on the end of a cross to put the crowd into raptures.
Rayo survived some late pressure from the Yellow Submarine, but always looked the better side as they secured an important three points in their quest to stay in La Liga.
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Rayo Vallecano
Juan Carlos – 6.5: Always aware of the danger but needed to make very few difficult saves.
Tito – 7: Saw off the constant threat of Suarez and Mario.
Jose Crespo – 5.5: A solid first-half showing before being replaced due to injury right after halftime.
Ze Castro – 6: Was given little problems by Baptistao, but started play well from the backline.
Quini – 6: Saw the easiest afternoon of any Rayo player, as the opposition lacked any penetration down his side.
Bebe – 6: Had an exciting first-half battle with Mario that he probably won on points, trailed-off in the second and was substituted with ten minutes remaining.
Roberto Trashorras – 7.5: Controlled the match for his side. Dropped deep to help defend and moved up to run the midfield.
Diego Llorente – 6.5: Was strong in midfield and pushed his team forward.
Pablo Hernandez – 6.5: Created good attacking momentum and gave Marin plenty of headaches.
Javi Guerra – 7.5: Led from the point of the attack and was always a useful outlet. Scored early and set the tempo.
Miku – 7: Dangerous in and around the box. Threatened when on the ball and worked hard to retake possession.
Substitutes
Antonino Amaya – 6.5: Had to withstand second-half pressure, but saw off the Villarreal threat.
Jozabed – 5.5: The second centre-back substitution was a solid decision.
Mateus Manucho – N/A: Few touches in his 10 minutes.
Villarreal
Alphonse Areola – 6: Came out well to stop crosses, but should have done more on the opener.
Mario Gaspar – 5.5: A satisfactory performance from the stand-in captain.
Victor Ruiz – 5.5: Did not impose himself enough to put either striker off their game.
Eric Bailly – 6: The better of the two centre-backs, battled well over the 90 minutes.
Adrian Marin – 6: Rayo did not have much joy down Villarreal’s left and that was down to Marin.
Denis Suarez – 7: Another starring performance from the winger. Always troubling down the right-side.
Jonathon Dos Santos – 7: The best player for Villarreal, but could not conjure up enough to get his team over the line.
Manu Trigueros – 5: A very quiet performance in the centre of the park.
Alphonso Pedreza – 3: An underwhelming debut from the youth team product. Generated nothing of note and was replaced on the hour.
Leo Baptistao – 4: Lacked service and struggled when he did get on the ball.
Adrian Lopez – 7: Scored a goal and worked hard to be an outlet for his side. Substituted with 20 minutes to play.
Substitutes
Nahuel Leiva – 4: Was hardly an improvement on Pedreza
Cedric Bakambu – 4: Did little to nothing in his 20 minute spell.
Rodrigo – 3: Made no impact off the bench.
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