Tough defeat in Villarreal where UD deserved more (3-1)

UD Las Palmas lined up with several changes, most notably the debut of Dinko Horkas in La Liga. The Croatian goalkeeper replaced his injured teammate Cillessen, who stayed back on the island after participating in the first seven matchdays. 

Luis Carrión's side approached the match against Villarreal with character. They fought for possession from the start, pressed high up the pitch, and even came close to opening the scoring through a brilliant play by Alberto Moleiro. The Tenerife native made a slalom into the box from the left, set up Fabio Silva, but the Portuguese striker squandered his shot from close range. 

Las Palmas had three chances to score in the first half. The next two came from McBurnie and Fabio Silva again. The Scotsman headed a cross from Benito in the 10th minute, but goalkeeper Diego Conde made a last-ditch save, tipping the ball wide with his glove. Conde also denied Fabio Silva, who was running through the middle after receiving a vertical pass from Moleiro.

The first moment of concern for Horkas came in the 34th minute. Sergi Cardona found himself with a loose ball in the box, but the Croatian keeper stopped the shot with his foot.

However, one minute before halftime, Pepé scored the 1-0. Interestingly, the buildup came after a Januzaj attack, whose cross was cleared by the defense. In the counterattack, Barry and Pepé combined in a vertical play that ended in a goal. Protests from the islanders about Barry’s challenges on Herzog and Alex Suárez were dismissed.

The match picked up even more pace at the start of the second half when, after a great play by Januzaj, Fabio Silva opened his goal tally in Spain with a soft strike past Conde. 

The equalizer seemed to light the path for a better second half, but things quickly got complicated. In the 50th minute, Horkas saved a penalty he had conceded himself. Baena’s shot was touched by the keeper and hit the crossbar before bouncing back into play.

In the 55th minute, Januzaj tried his luck from outside the box, only to see his shot hit the woodwork as well.

The remainder of the match belonged to Villarreal, who would go on to secure the victory. In the 75th minute, Barry's goal was ruled out for offside. However, in the 83rd minute, VAR validated his second attempt, making it 2-1 for the Yellow Submarine. 

Las Palmas threw everything forward to seek an equalizer, but in stoppage time, Alex Baena sealed the 3-1 scoreline with a fast break from one end of the pitch to the other.