Alaves dig deep to edge Villarreal and stay unbeaten in LaLiga
Alaves kept their unbeaten start to the LaLiga season alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Villarreal, who are still searching for their 1st victory of the campaign.
It was not a polished performance all the way through, but it was resilient, timely and backed up by some huge moments at both ends.
Match highlight
Villarreal did not arrive short of attacking intent. The Yellow Submarine have not exactly struggled to create chances this season, and they started brightly again here, only to waste an early opening when captain Gerard Moreno fired over from close range.
That miss mattered because although Villarreal had seen more of the ball early on, the 1st real save of the match was forced by Alaves, with Lucas Boye drawing a strong stop from Luiz Junior after a powerful effort.
Just before the half-hour, Tajon Buchanan came close to putting Villarreal ahead in style with a long-range strike that Antonio Sivera did brilliantly to push over the bar. It was a big save, and Alaves made sure it counted almost immediately after.
After a slick passing move, Angel Perez delivered a smart ball back across the area from the byline and Boye finished calmly from around 8 metres to give the home side the lead.
Villarreal had enough time before the break to respond, and probably should have done better, but Moreno's effort from just outside the box went straight at Sivera when the visitors badly needed more quality.
The opening stages of the 2nd half were messy. The main moment early on was Toni Martinez being forced off through injury for Alaves, while Nicolas Pepe tried to inject some life into Villarreal's attack with a strong run and shot, only for his finish to lack the power needed to really trouble Sivera.
With just over 20 minutes left, the hosts broke sharply and came close to a 2nd goal, but Perez could only hit the post from a tight angle after the ball dropped kindly for him.
That miss kept Villarreal alive and from there, the away side really started to push. The urgency rose, Alaves dropped deeper, and the home defence had to survive a proper late siege.
Sivera was the main reason they did. He first made an important save to deny Pepe, then produced an even better stop late on to keep out a thunderous effort from Ayoze Perez that looked destined to level the score.
As time ran out, Juan Foyth spun and struck instinctively inside the box, only to see the post come to Alaves' rescue and complete Villarreal's frustration.
So despite a string of late chances, Villarreal left empty-handed again.
For Alaves, the result means they avoid defeat in their opening 3 LaLiga matches for the 1st time in 7 years. For Inigo Perez, the wait for a 1st win as Villarreal boss goes on, and so does a broader away run that is starting to look uncomfortable.
