Samuel Chukwueze played for 89 minutes as Villarreal recorded a 2-0 La Liga win over Valencia at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Sunday.
Javier Calleja’s men have been in superb form since the league resumption with victories over Celta Vigo, Mallorca and Granada, followed by a 2-2 draw against Sevilla in their most recent encounter.
This is indeed improved form compared to the period before the league suspension where they lost on the bounce to Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Leganes.
Chukwueze created the opening goal for Villarreal on Sunday in the 14th minute, passing to Gerard Moreno, who in turn gave it to former Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer to finish off in cool fashion.
The Yellow Submarines' second goal came with the help of Valencia goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, whose long kick was intercepted by former Arsenal man Santi Cazorla, who played it into the path of Moreno to do the rest.
Not a bad run! 👏
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) June 28, 2020
✅ Celta 🆚 Villarreal (0-1)
✅ Villarreal 🆚 Mallorca (1-0)
✅ Granada 🆚 Villarreal (0-1)
🤝 Villarreal 🆚 Sevilla (2-2)
✅ Villarreal 🆚 Valencia (2-0)@LaLigaEN#VillarrealValencia pic.twitter.com/fSlylU44Hg
Chukwuweze was taken off in the 89th minute with Javier Ontiveros replacing him.
The 21-year old Nigeria international produced 70 touches, two key passes and 52 accurate passes at an impressive 94% success rate, which was the highest among the Villarreal starters, followed by Cameroon international Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa with 93.9%.
Chukwueze was also successful in three of four long balls, three of four dribbles and also won six of eight total duels.
The 21-year-old has now completed 1,734 minutes of football from 31 appearances in La Liga this season, of which 16 have been starts while 15 were off the bench.
He has scored three goals and provided four assists, the most recent of which coming in the 1-0 win over Mallorca when he assisted Carlos Bacca’s goal.
Chukwueze’s last goal, however, dates back to November 24, 2019, in a 3-1 defeat at home to Ghana defender Joseph Aidoo’s Celta Vigo.
Sunday’s win puts Villarreal within three points of fourth-placed Sevilla, thus keeping their hopes of Champions League football next season very much alive.
They will, however, be wary of Getafe who are two points behind them and could overtake them for fifth place should they get the better of another Champions League hopeful in Real Sociedad on Monday night.