Villarreal beat Levante 3-1 in the Comunitat derby as Moleiro shines

Villarreal beat local rivals Levante 3-1 at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Sunday, a Comunitat derby that swung their way either side of half-time. Ayoze Pérez put the hosts ahead in first-half stoppage time only for Iván Romero to level a minute later, but Alberto Moleiro restored the lead early in the second half and Georges Mikautadze added a third late on to seal it.

Goal timeline

Moleiro's afternoon

Alberto Moleiro was involved in three of the four goals: he set up Ayoze Pérez's opener, scored the eventual winner himself early in the second half, and turned provider again for Mikautadze's clincher. It was the kind of complete performance that decided a derby which, for two minutes either side of half-time, had looked like it could go either way.

Snapping out of a rough spell

The win is Villarreal's second in a row, after a 3-1 victory away to Málaga the previous weekend broke a run of four straight defeats — at Alavés, at home to Deportivo, away to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, and at home to Real Betis. Levante, by contrast, saw a run of one win, two draws and a loss in their previous four halted by defeat, with a rearranged fixture against Athletic Club — postponed from matchday 6 — still to come.

Match stats

Line-ups

Villarreal lined up in a 4-4-2: Péter Gulácsi in goal, Sergi Cardona, Renato Veiga, Alex Freeman and Pau Navarro in defense, Tajon Buchanan, Nathan Saliba, Pape Gueye and Alberto Moleiro in midfield, and Ayoze Pérez alongside Ilias Akhomach up front. Levante set up in a 4-3-3 with Mathew Ryan in goal, Jeremy Toljan, Adrián de la Fuente, Manu Sánchez and Aïssa Mandi across the back, Enzo Bardeli, Jon Ander Olasagasti and Oriol Rey in midfield, and an attacking trio of Roger Brugué, Iván Romero and Thiago Fernández.

What's next

Villarreal went into the weekend 14th on 5 points from 6 games; the win takes them to 8. Levante had been 15th on 5 points from 5 games — one behind the pace of the rest of the division with that postponed fixture still outstanding — and stay on 5 after the defeat, with the trip to face Athletic Club now the one to watch before the table settles.