Villarreal lost 1:2 to Real Betis in their fifth round of La Liga action on Monday evening at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Gerard Moreno opened the scoring before Cucho Hernández and Natan Bernardo de Souza secured a rare away victory for the visitors.
Tajon Buchanan had a goal disallowed in the twentieth minute following a VAR check, but the hosts recovered to give Gerard Moreno the lead in the twenty-ninth. Things came to a head shortly after as Betis struck twice in rapid succession — first through Hernández in thirty-nine, then Bernardo de Souza in forty-three. The visitors were not done once the break began, with Renato Veiga picking up a yellow card in the eighty-fourth minute.
Villarreal controlled the ball, completing 625 passes at 88.6 per cent accuracy, but their 1.88 expected goals told a different story. Betis, against the run of play, registered 3.75 expected goals from just seven big chances. Eight shots on target for the hosts versus twelve for the visitors did not translate into the same reward.
Substitutions began in the fifty-fourth minute as Pape Gueye was replaced, followed by Buchanan himself. Isco and Gerard Moreno came off for the hosts, while Betis brought on Abde Ezzalzouli, Rodrigo Riquelme, Álvaro Santiago Mouriño González, Nicolas Pépé, Pablo Fornals and Cucho Hernández in the closing stages.
The result leaves Villarreal rooted in nineteenth place with two points from five games — no wins, two draws, three losses. Betis move up to fifth with twelve points, sitting four ahead of the hosts after four victories and one defeat.
We had backed a home win at 46 per cent confidence before kick-off, but the match went another way. Betis' efficiency with their chances — seven created against two — proved decisive, and Villarreal's possession without penetration finally caught up with them.