Story ProgressBack to home
Villarreal beat Everton 4-2
Villarreal moved into the Champions League's group phase for the first time, after Diego Forlan's injury-time goal gave them a 2-1 win over Everton.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:48 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Villarreal:
Villarreal moved into the Champions League's group phase for the first time, after Diego Forlan's injury-time goal gave them a 2-1 win over English side Everton. Villarreal, holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg, played two weeks back, received a let-off in the 17th minute when Duncan Ferguson's header to Tim Cahill was disappointedly struck wide. Three minutes later, the home team made Everton pay for their lack of execution. Dominating the game Argentine international Juan Sorin scored after his strike deflected off Everton captain David Weir and then past goalkeeper Nigel Martin into the net. Villarreal, 3-1 up on aggregate, continued to play the better football for the remainder of the half and dominated possession. Diego Forlan enjoyed two good opportunities in the 24th and 37th minutes, only to be denied by the experienced goalkeeping of Martin. Mounting pressure Villarreal poured on the pressure in the second half with several excellent opportunities in the opening minutes. Juan Riquelme's long-range strike in the 52nd minute was kept out by the 38-year-old Martin, a former England international. Against the run of play, Everton scored unexpectedly in the 70th minute when Mikal Arteta's swooping free kick from outside the area beat Villarreal goalkeeper Mariano Barbosa. Down 3-2 on aggregate, Everton needed just one more goal to send the contest into extra time. Denied goal Ten minutes from full-time, Ferguson almost equalised for the visitors with a superb header, only to have it acrobatically parried away by Barbosa. A minute later, Ferguson finally found the back of the net - but his goal was denied by referee Pierluigi Collina, who ruled there had been a push. Forlan's goal in the final minute sealed victory for Villarreal. They won the match 2-1, and the tie on aggregate 4-2. Villarreal now join three other Spanish teams -- FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Real Betis -- in Thursday's draw for the group stage of the competition. Before this year's Champions League, neither Villarreal nor Everton had played in the competition proper. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Football Villarreal
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.