Sporting Gijon hosted Villarreal at El Molinon on the final day of the season knowing a win would secure their place in La Liga and did just that with a 2-0 victory.
Goals from Jony and Sergio Alvarez were enough for the Asturian club as they disposed of an abject Yellow Submarine.
The home side opened the scoring in the eighth minute through left winger Jony who was on the receiving end of some nice footwork from Carlos Carmona and was on hand inside the box to beat Manu Trigueros to the ball and volley home.
Down the other end and Leo Baptistao had the opportunity to draw his side level in what could be the final match for Villarreal for the on-loan Brazilian but with Pichu Cuellar bearing down on him could only land his shot against the post.
Sporting were well deserving of their half time lead as the away side put up very little resistance. Having secured their Champions League berth next season, the Yellow Submarine had little to play for but other relegation candidates were hoping for better from Marcelino’s men.
It took until late in the second half for the home side to double their advantage but they were clearly leaving their best for last.
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Antonio Sanabria found space in the box and toyed with Eric Bailly before playing back to an open Alvarez 25 yards from goal who lashed home a strike which cannoned off the crossbar and into the back of the net.
With the stadium in raptures referee Alberto Undiano blew full time on Sporting’s season which only caused more excitement among the fans who stormed the pitch to congratulate their team on staying up.
Conspiracy Theorists Line Up
Prior to this final round of fixtures former Sporting player and manager, and current Villarreal manager Marcelino disclosed his wish that Sporting stay up in La Primera. This caused shockwaves around the league’s other relegation candidates as they claimed the fix was in and Villarreal would do little to stand in their opponent’s way. With only professional pride to play for Villarreal had little incentive in this match anyway but following Marcelino’s comments will surely be witness to mass criticism.
They were plodding and slow, mistiming passes on a regular basis and did little to threaten Cuellar’s goal, but is it because their minds were on their holidays or because of their manager’s comments? We may never truly find out the answer but expect barbs to be thrown in the press accusing them of the latter.
Time To Relax
Villarreal have mentally been on holiday for a while now but following this game Sporting’s players and manager, Abelardo Fernandez, can relax. A job well done but the Asutrian team who would have viewed survival as their goal going into the season.
Much will need to be done in the break to make the team more competitive, especially with the loan returns of Sanabria to Roma and Alen Halilovic to Barcelona, but for now it is time to take a breather, hit the beach and relax in a job well done.
An Unlikely XI
The team Marcelino sent out was a clear reflection of where his club’s head was out as it was a clear B team. While questions following the match might be aimed at their lack of competitiveness the coach himself must begin to ask the question as to how many of these players would be around for the Champions League campaign next season.
If offers were to come in for any of this XI they would be hard to turn down. With the exception of Mario Gaspar and Eric Bailly, does Marcelino think he needs to hold on to this team? Samu Castillejo, Samuel Garcia, Manu Trigueros, Daniele Bonera, Antonio Rukavina and Mariano Barbosa have all had ineffective seasons and could be on the chopping block.
Leo Baptistao’s loan surely will not be made permanent, while Nahuel Leiva could benefit from a loan spell of his own further down the table. Whatever the outcome of the off-season, do not expect to see this line up trotted out on matchday one of the 2016/17 Liga season.
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