Villarreal strengthen Champions League hopes with Levante victory

Levante 0-1 Villarreal

Villarreal bounced back from their weekend defeat at Getafe to record an important victory over Valencian rivals Levante at the Ciudad de Valencia.

This match had originally been scheduled for December, but a red weather warning meant it had to be postponed. The action finally got underway over two months later, and when it did, Villarreal grabbed the early foothold as they had a couple of big chances to open the scoring. Alberto Moleiro headed the ball against the post from close range, while Ayoze Perez was denied by Levante goalkeeper Mathew Ryan later in the first half.

It was level at the interval, but Villarreal managed the find the breakthrough on the hour mark. Georges Mikautadze was played in behind by Pape Gueye, but after being unable to get a shot away, he played a one-two with Nicolas Pepe before firing into the bottom corner with Ryan stranded.

Levante had to come out of their shell after going behind, but they had Ryan to thank for not going 2-0 behind as he made an excellent double save to deny Alfonso Pedraza and Mikautadze.

At the other end, Levante had to wait until deep into stoppage time to have a clear sight of the goal, but on three occasions, they had efforts blocked by Villarreal defenders. In the end, they could not find the back of the net for the third home match in a row, which means they remain seven points adrift in the La Liga relegation zone.

Three precious points for Villarreal

It is a big win for Villarreal, who have boosted their hopes of securing back-to-back Champions League qualifications. They are now three points clear in 3rd, with a significant buffer having now been established over Atletico Madrid, although they are still far away from the leading pair of Real Madrid and Barcelona.