Chukwueze denied by VAR as Villarreal lose at home to Valladolid

Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze was denied a goal by VAR as Villarreal lost at home to relegation strugglers Real Valladolid. 

The Yellow Submarine followed up a 3-2 win at the Bernabeu last gameweek by losing 2-0 at home to Valladolid, who were only two points off the relegation places when the game kicked off. 

The Nigerian forward thought he had given his team a timely equaliser in the first half, but his goal was ruled out upon review by VAR. 

Valladolid had opened the scoring after only two minutes of the match through Selim Amallah,  and Chukwueze thought he had pulled Villarreal level with his third goal in two games, but the goal was ruled out after it appeared that Jose Luis Morales had wandered into an offside position during the build-up of the goal. 

Villarreal and Chukwueze struggled for the rest of the match, and Valladolid doubled their lead when goalscorer Amallah set up fellow Moroccan Jawad El Yarmiq for a simple finish. 

Villarreal were able to pull one back through substitute Etienne Capoue, who scored in the 74th minute to give the home side hope, but were unable to find an equaliser with less than 15 minutes of normal time left in the fixture after the goal. 

The loss put a spanner in the works of Villarreal’s European hopes as the side remains fifth on the LaLiga table, four points off Real Sociedad in fourth, who have a chance to increase the gap with a victory over Athletic Club on Saturday. 

Villarreal could find themselves even further down the table if Real Betis manage a victory against Espanyol, as that would take the Seville club into fifth place in the table, above the Yellow Submarine. 

That would leave Villarreal in the last European place in LaLiga, booking them a spot to the UEFA Europa Conference league for the 2023/24 season.