The team from Castellón beat the Andalusians thanks to goals from Gerard Moreno, Santi Cazorla, Samu Chukwueze and Toto Ekambi.
The efficiency of Villarreal, who had patience not to waste the chances at their disposal, could with a Betis that only had chances in the opening leg of the second half and ended up sunk with two goals against in the prolongation (5-1). [Narration and statistics: Villarreal 5 - 1 Betis].
In the first half, the locals were able to overcome good Baetic football on the basis of effectiveness and in the second, recover to an initial phase of visitor control, in which the Baetic added effectiveness to the dominance of the first 45 minutes, but in which they ended up with an excessive punishment for what they saw in the match.
The first half was intense, with two teams trying to impose their football, but they found a lot of resistance in the opponent, as the defenses managed to impose themselves on the attacks.
First time equalized
In this initial phase marked by equality, a genius from Cazorla left Ruben Peña alone in front of the goal of the Sevillian team, who disrupted the goal in a great performance.
After that move, Betis took centre stage in the match, took possession of the ball and was able to play closer and closer to Asenjo's goal, although their dominance was not accompanied by a real ability to create danger.
The arrivals against Villarreal were sporadic and almost all to counterattack, but were closer to the goal than the most frequent Andalusian team and in one of them, the referee annulled a goal to Ekambi offside.
The Betis was constant in the possession of the ball and the ability to play near the goal of Villarreal, but a corner in favor of the locals was resolved with an impeccable header from Ekambi that put the 1-0 on the scoreboard shortly before the break of a clash in which what had been seen until then justified a level.
In the beginning of the second half, the only thing that changed was that Betis had the chances they had been missing in the first half and in the 48th minute a great shot from Emerson, which brushed against a local defense, put the 1-1 on the scoreboard.
Contras match
From then on the visitors were closer to the goal than Villarreal, but a Bartra to Chukwueze demolition revised by VAR led to a 2-1 penalty scored by Cazorla at the halfway point of the restart.
The goal was a breath of fresh air for Villarreal against a Betis who accused for the second time behind on the scoreboard and, in a local counter, Chukwueze and Gerard drew up a play for Ekambi to score 3-1.
That goal, a quarter of an hour from time, was key in the game because it gave Villarreal confidence and undermined Betis, who until then had been looking for a draw.
The Baetics took a step back after the third local goal and little happened in the final minutes of a game in which Villarreal was able to expand the score and obtained three key points to move up in the table and Betis did not take advantage of the good play phase offered in La Cerámica.
Gerard took advantage of a counter-attack to make the 4-1 in the prolongation, preamble of a new goal, scored by Chukwueze in a very similar action.
Villarreal 5-1 Betis:
Villarreal: Sergio Asenjo, Rubén Peña, Albiol, Pau Torres, Quintillà, Iborra, Cazorla (Trigueros, 85'), Anguissa, Moi Gómez (Chukwueze, 57'), Toko Ekambi (Ontiveros, 79') and Gerard Moreno.
Betis: Joel, Emerson, Feddal, Bartra, Pedraza (Tello, 75'), Joaquín (Raúl, 79'), Carvalho, Canales, Álex Moreno, Borja Iglesias and Loren (Laínez, 79').
Goals: 1-0, 39': Ekambi. 1-1, m.48: Emerson. 2-1, 68'; Cazorla, penalty, 3-1, 76'; Ekambi. 4-1, 92'; Gerard Moreno. 5-1, 94; Chukwueze.
Referee: Estrada Fernández (Catalan school). He admonished Moi Gómez and Quintillà for Villarreal and Joaquín and Feddal for Betis.
Incidences: match played in the field of La Cerámica in front of 18.135 spectators.