Giuseppe Rossi’s second-half penalty gave Villarreal a 1-0 win over Real Zaragoza on Monday to strengthen the club’s hold on fourth place in the Spanish league.
Rossi sent the spot-kick into the right corner of the net in the 71st minute after Zaragoza midfielder Ponzio Leonardo had tackled the Italy striker in the area.
It was Rossi’s 16th league goal of the season.
Photo: AFP
Villarreal’s first win in three weeks boosted their chances of securing Spain’s last Champions League spot and kept them within striking distance of Valencia, six points ahead in third place.
“We knew the importance of this game and how vital these points were,” said Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido, whose team qualified for the semi-finals of the Europa League earlier this week. “Our main goal is to reach the Champions League and today we have taken a good step in that direction.”
Good goalkeeping saved several chances from both sides early on.
Zaragoza goalkeeper Antonio Doblas stopped Rossi twice in the first half, while Villarreal’s Diego Lopez denied striker Ikechuwku Uche once in each half, before Rossi put the hosts ahead for good.
Uche was sent off with his second yellow card in injury-time for diving in the box when he could have shot from close range, but opted to try and draw the spot-kick.
Zaragoza’s fourth straight away loss left them in the relegation zone in 18th place, trailing Malaga on their head-to-head record.
“The difference is always marked in the area and that’s where they found their goal,” Zaragoza coach Javier Aguirre said. “Now we only have to work and think about the next game and try to win it to escape this situation.”
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