Villarreal come from behind to beat Málaga 3-1 as Pape Gueye scores twice off the bench

Málaga led inside 12 minutes at La Rosaleda, and it did not matter. Carlos Dotor put the hosts ahead early on, but Villarreal answered before half-time through Alberto Moleiro and substitute Pape Gueye, and Gueye added a penalty in the 86th minute to make it 3-1 — Villarreal's first LaLiga win of the season, after four straight defeats in all competitions.

Score by half

Pape Gueye's cameo changes the game

Gueye was not supposed to be so influential. He came on in the 37th minute only because Santi Comesaña, Villarreal's captain, went down with an injury, and eight minutes later he was on the scoresheet — meeting Ayoze Pérez's pass to make it 2-1 in first-half stoppage time, after Moleiro had already levelled things up on 40 minutes. The 27-year-old French-born Senegal international joined Villarreal from Marseille as a free agent, a defensive midfielder more known for his ball-winning than his finishing, which made his role in this win all the more unusual.

The night's decisive moment came late. A second Villarreal goal, from substitute Carlos Romero, was ruled out by VAR in the 82nd minute — but in the same passage of play, referee Carlos del Cerro Grande pointed to the spot after Alfonso Herrero fouled fellow substitute Carlos Maciá in the box. Herrero was booked three minutes later, and Gueye made no mistake from the spot in the 86th minute to complete the scoring.

Match stats

Line-ups

Málaga set up in a 4-1-4-1: captain Alfonso Herrero in goal behind a back four of Einar Galilea, José Salinas, Ángel Recio and Carlos Puga, Izan Merino screening in front of them, and Pablo Martínez, Carlos Dotor, Juan Cruz and David Larrubia across midfield, with Carlos Ruiz Rubio ('Chupe') leading the line. Villarreal lined up in a 4-4-2 with Péter Gulácsi in goal behind Sergi Cardona, Renato Veiga, Alex Freeman and Pau Navarro, captain Santi Comesaña, Tajon Buchanan, Nathan Saliba and Ilias Akhomach across midfield, and Ayoze Pérez partnering Alberto Moleiro up front.

A first win at last for Villarreal

Villarreal had gone into the round without a win anywhere this season — draws away at Racing Santander and Atlético Madrid, then defeats away at Alavés and at home to Deportivo and Real Betis in LaLiga, plus a loss away to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. Four straight losses without scoring more than two, and Iñigo Pérez's side needed a spell of ten first-half minutes and a substitute's brace to turn that around.

Málaga, by contrast, are still searching for a first win of their own. Juan Francisco Funes Arjona's side had taken three draws and two defeats from their opening five league games; this loss extends the winless run to six, with only two goals scored in that span before Dotor's opener.

Where it leaves the table

That first win moves Villarreal up to 13th on 5 points from six matches. Málaga stay 19th, level on 3 points with 18th-placed Celta Vigo but behind them on goal difference, and only a single point above bottom-placed Elche — the tightest part of LaLiga's table this early in the season. Villarreal will look to build on the win in their next league fixture, while Málaga go again looking for the victory that has eluded them all season.