Football is a cruel game. After going two and a half months without a defeat, Sevilla have now been beaten twice in the space of four days after their defeat in the Europa League on Thursday night. With the defence sleeping at the back from a corner early on, Albiol was able to give the away side the lead. Munir then levelled the scoring after a great pass from Reguilón. However, Villarreal, who hadn't won in their last six league games, took the lead once again through Ekambi, something to which Sevilla didn't have an answer.
Sevilla were looking shaky from the off, and it was Villarreal who came out of the blocks the quickest and with very little of the game played, they found themselves troubling Vaclík. Gerard Moreno, after great individual play, and Quintillà could have opened the scoring, whilst Munir also had an opportunity to score the first goal. Villarreal were on top, but there was nothing to suggest that the scoring would begin so soon. After a corner was whipped in, it clipped of De Jong and the ball fell kindly to Raúl Albiol at the back post, who tapped in to make it 0-1. It was a hammer blow for Sevilla who looked to react immediately. And, although it wasn't immediate, it didn't take long for Sevilla to take control of the game.
Villarreal made the most of their first clear chance to open the scoring
Villarreal nearly went two goals to the good when a long shot from Moi Gómez whistled past Vaclík's post, but the team dominating at this stage in the game was now the home side. Perhaps, the best opportunity of the half fell to Banega after he struck a fierce shot from about 20 yards out, whenever most people were expecting a cross. Asenjo was equal to it and pushed it round for a corner. As always, Sevilla looked threatening down the wings and put in an enormous amount of crosses. Both Navas and Reguilón were looking for De Jong in the middle, but he didn't have any luck getting on the end of any of their crosses.