First-half flurry sees Villarreal down Real Sociedad to go third in LaLiga

[p]An impressive week for Spanish teams in Europe significantly increased the chances of LaLiga gaining an extra UEFA Champions League place, but top-four-bound [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/villarreal/lUatW5jE/"]Villarreal[/a] made a mockery of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-sociedad/jNvak2f3/"]Sociedad[/a]’s hopes of finishing fifth with three quickfire goals early on.[/p][p]Always one to lead by example, Villarreal icon [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moreno-gerard/UwfDD083/"]Gerard Moreno[/a] required just nine minutes to open the scoring,[b] registering his eighth league goal of the season when heading in via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/comesana-santi/KK4TPIBj/"]Santi Comesana[/a]’s cleverly flicked ball from a near-post corner.[/b][/p][p]Sociedad looked nothing like the UCL side they could still be next term, [b]and Gerard then played a role in Villarreal’s second, seeing his strike half-saved before it broke kindly for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mikautadze-georges/QgN9t9CH/"]Georges Mikautadze[/a] to slot into the awaiting net. [/b][/p][p]With confidence now oozing through them, the Yellow Submarine soon demonstrated why they are one of Spain’s best counter-attacking sides, [b]going back to front at lightning speed to create an opening for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepe-nicolas/j3Hk0qEj/"]Nicolas Pepe[/a], who worked his way in to fire past a helpless [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/remiro-alejandro/UmDjbtRC/"]Alex Remiro[/a] with the aid of a wicked deflection.[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="305f877d-a808-40e5-9830-9caa50d36df5" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="eec16976-f487-4cf9-bc69-5c3237da4d1e" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/luiz-junior/WShuFWRi/"]Luiz Junior[/a] prevented the visitors from reducing the deficit on the stroke of half-time, thwarting [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oyarzabal-mikel/dQ1P695O/"]Mikel Oyarzabal[/a] from a dangerous one-on-one situation, just seconds after Pepe had rattled the woodwork at the opposite end of the pitch.[/p][p]However, the Villarreal goalkeeper was quickly brought down to earth after the restart, [b]making the rash decision to come for a cross that was headed away by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/veiga-renato/r1cX4e0d/"]Renato Veiga[/a], leaving the goal unguarded for half-time substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sucic-luka/p6f9CgsE/"]Luka Sucic[/a] to steer home his deflected strike.[/b][/p][p]Mikautadze should have restored the home side’s three-goal buffer just past the 70th minute, but with only the goalkeeper to beat, he sent his shot harmlessly wide of the far post.[/p][embed guid="3bcdf8ad-53fe-4d9d-bda3-ebed3bdbe7c9" url="https://x.com/VillarrealCFen/status/2035113291874205712" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Georgia international would have then breathed a sigh of relief when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oskarsson-orri-steinn/K2gCwDJE/"]Orri Oskarsson[/a] had a goal chalked off for offside minutes later, which effectively ended any hopes of a Real Sociedad fightback.[/p][p]The defeat leaves Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side in seventh spot and six points adrift of fifth spot, while the hosts leapfrog Atletico Madrid into third position for now.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepe-nicolas/j3Hk0qEj/"]Nicolas Pepe[/a] (Villarreal)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="a08db066-f236-4926-a841-6a531e64abd2" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="29e9e08d-b6f1-4c23-84ec-af7ec88b196f" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/real-sociedad-jNvak2f3/villarreal-lUatW5jE/summary/stats/?mid=pIFbK5HM"]Catch up on the stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]