Alaves vs Villarreal

Match summary

Alaves saw off Villarreal 1-0. Alaves led 1-0 at half-time.

Lucas Boyé put Alaves ahead in the 31st minute, set up by Ángel Pérez.

Villarreal can feel hard done by, creating 1.45 expected goals (xG) from 19 shots to Alaves's 0.92 from 9.

Alaves secured a narrow home victory against Villarreal on matchday three of La Liga despite being heavily dominated across most statistical metrics. The visitors controlled seventy-six per cent of possession, completed six hundred and forty-nine passes at an accuracy of eighty-eight per cent, and generated one hundred and forty-three attacks compared to just seventy-two for the hosts. Villarreal also registered nineteen total shots, six of which were on target, and accumulated an expected goals figure of 1.45 against Alaves's 0.92. However, Alaves defended resolutely with twenty-two tackles and relied on clinical finishing to edge the contest, while the disciplinary count saw the hosts pick up five yellow cards alongside one for the away side.

The opening half saw Alaves take the lead through the game's most notable chance when Lucas Boyé scored with a right-footed shot in the thirty-first minute, giving his side a 1-0 advantage that they carried into the interval. Just after the start of first-half stoppage time, Alaves manager Quique Sánchez Flores was shown a yellow card for argument. The second half featured a flurry of substitutions from both teams and heightened disciplinary action, with Abde Rebbach booked in the forty-eighth minute. Further yellow cards were issued to Nicolas Pépé, Mariano Díaz, Antonio Sivera, and Renato Veiga as tensions rose towards the conclusion of the match, which ended with no further goals.