Villarreal picked up their fourth win of the eight weeks old La Liga campaign courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over Real Valladolid at the Estadio de la Ceramica, thanks to goals from Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze and Spanish defender Pau Torres.
Super Eagles star Samuel Chukwueze got his first goal of the season to help power Villarreal to a fine 2-0 victory over Real Valladolid on Monday night.
The young Nigerian forward opened the scoring for the home side just past the 20-minute mark with a well-placed left-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner following an Alfonso Pedraza assist.
Up until that point, Chukwueze, who netted five La Liga goals in his breakthrough season and three last term, had recorded no goal and just a single assist in seven appearances this campaign.
The 21-year-old’s opener was, fifteen minutes later, followed by a close-range finish from Pau Torres as Villarreal held their advantage into the first half break.
Both sides had chances to add to the goal tally after the interval, but neither was clinical enough until Gerard Moreno found the back of the net in the 64th minute.
But VAR ruled out the effort for an infringement in the buildup to the goal.
Takefusa Kubo replaced Samuel Chukwueze shortly before that overturned goal.
That victory lifts Unai Emery’s men to third place on the La Liga table with 15 points, one point behind Real Madrid in second place and two short of leaders Real Sociedad.
Real Valladolid, though, remain rooted to the foot of the Primera Division, boasting no wins and just three points from their eight matches played.
Chukwueze, however, would be pleased with his goal coming only a few days after he was named in the Super Eagles squad scheduled to trade tackles with Sierra Leone in two back-to-back Afcon qualifying games.
