Alavés hold Villarreal at Mendizorrosa
Alavés saw off Villarreal 1-0 in the third round of La Liga at the Estadio de Mendizorrosa. Lucas Boye's strike in the thirty-first minute proved decisive as the hosts claimed all three points against a side that dominated possession but could not break through. The result leaves Alavés fourth on seven points, while Villarreal remain fifteenth on two.Boye's goal came from a tight build-up and finished with a composed finish inside the box. It was the only shot on target for Alavés, and it was enough. By then, Villarreal had already settled into their pattern of keeping the ball and probing for gaps that would not appear.
The visitors controlled 76 per cent of possession and completed 649 passes compared to Alavés's 197. They created more chances on paper, with 1.4 expected goals against 0.81 for the hosts. But shots off target told a different story — seven attempts that never found the net.
Alavés defended deeply and won 47 clearances, while Villarreal's 17 blocked shots suggest they were frustrated by interruptions to their flow. The hosts committed 15 fouls to Villarreal's eight, a reflection of the intensity as the game wore on. Three yellow cards for Alavés and two for Villarreal marked a physical contest.
Substitutions began in the fifty-fourth minute, with Alavés bringing on M. Rodriguez and T. Martinez. Villarreal responded with T. Buchanan in the sixty-third and later introduced G. Mikautadze for Boye in the eighty-second. The hosts did not need to go for broke — they had what they needed.
The table now shows a growing gap between the two sides. Alavés have won two and drawn one, while Villarreal have won none and lost once. This was not a game for highlights, but for efficiency — and Boye had the edge.
