Malaga vs Villarreal

Villarreal came away from La Rosaleda with a 1-3 win on Thursday night, doing the damage early and holding firm when Malaga pushed back. The home side actually found the net first, but Villarreal responded quickly with two goals of their own before the break, turning the game around and taking a 1-2 lead into half-time. That early spell proved decisive. Malaga huffed and puffed after the restart, throwing bodies forward in search of an equaliser, but the visitors defended smartly and added a third to settle any nerves. For Malaga, it's a frustrating night at home against a side they'll have fancied catching cold. The quick turnaround after taking the lead will sting, and they'll need to tighten up defensively if results like this aren't to become a pattern. Villarreal, on the other hand, showed the kind of resilience and composure that wins points away from home, and they'll head back on the road buoyed by a display that looked comfortable once they'd settled the contest before the interval.

Villarreal beat Malaga 1-3 at Estadio La Rosaleda, and the numbers from the match back up how the game played out. Even without the extra share of possession, which finished 37% in favour of Malaga, Villarreal made the most of the chances that mattered and did enough to see the game out. The shot count told a similar story, with 5 attempts from Malaga against 16 from Villarreal over the course of the game. Malaga had their moments and did not make it easy from start to finish, but ultimately came up short on the day. Small margins like this one tend to add up over a season, and results such as this are often what separates teams in the table further down the line. Here is a closer look at exactly how the two sides compared, statistically.