PLAYER RATINGS | Villarreal 3-1 Marseille: Jean-Louis Gasset’s men given a scare by Villarreal but secure qualification
UEFA Europa League, Round of 16, 14/03/24
Olympique de Marseille were given a scare by Villarreal but secured their place in the quarter-final (3-1, agg. 3-5), despite succumbing to a first defeat under interim manager Jean-Louis Gasset.
In the words of Jean-Louis Gasset, Villarreal had “no margin for error” in the second leg. He added that only a “catastrophic” performance would see them squander their 4-0 aggregate lead. Whilst the first half wasn’t catastrophic, it wasn’t good either, and it was comfortably the worst 45 minutes of football since Gasset succeeded Gennaro Gattuso last month.
The chances came in waves for Villarreal. Jordan Veretout tested Filip Jörgensen with an inswinging cross, which needed to be tipped around the corner, in the second minute, but from there on, it was one-way traffic. Many of the chances fell the way of Alexander Sorloth. Having beaten Leonardo Balerdi and burst into the box, he was only denied by a desperate Chancel Mbemba block.
Needing to overturn such a deficit, Villarreal needed to be clinical, and they weren’t. Gonçalo Guedes tested a nervy Pau Lopez with a long-range effort before Sorloth once again went close. He rose highest at the back-post and with Lopez out of the equation, had he directed his header on target, he would have scored.
Villarreal did, however, get their goal. After nine shots in the opening 28 minutes, it was Etienne Capoue who got the opener, heading home unmarked from the edge of the box. The Frenchman should then have doubled his account on the night but slashed wildly from a few yards out, with his sliced effort flying agonisingly wide.
Overall, the La Liga side had 13 shots on goal in the first half, but they would be left to rue their missed chances.
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