Aston Villa lost out to Villarreal in a friendly at Villa Park on Thursday evening.
Unai Emery’s team were in control for long spells against his former side but failed to capitalise on their chances, with Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia hitting the frame of the goal and Ollie Watkins seeing an effort ruled out for offside.
The Spaniards, who also saw a Gerard Moreno effort disallowed, came up with the decisive moment on 78 minutes when Etienne Capoue fired a shot past Filip Marschall.
Villa utilised 22 players during the encounter as they build up to their Premier League game against Liverpool on Boxing Day.
Head coach Emery named a strong starting XI, captained by John McGinn, to face his former side, while he also welcomed World Cup trio, Matty Cash, Leander Dendoncker and Jan Bednarek back to the bench.
There was a familiar face in the Spanish side’s lineup, with Pepe Reina playing against the club for the first time since his 12-game loan stint in 2020, and the 40-year-old watched on as Mings struck an effort against the post after eight minutes.
His goal was breached soon after but Watkins was adjudged to be narrowly offside as he latched onto Buendia’s through ball.
While Robin Olsen remained relatively untroubled, the home side came close again when McGinn teed up Buendia and the Argentine’s shot crashed off the crossbar via a deflection from Kiko Femenia.
Villarreal, who are currently ninth in La Liga, looked to have made their hosts pay for missing chances when Gerard Moreno slotted a shot into the far corner with 38 minutes played. However, as the striker wheeled away to celebrate, he turned to see the linesman flagging for offside.
Marschall replaced Olsen at half-time in Villa’s only change, with Emery’s team picking up where they left off and dominating the opening stages of the second half.
Six substitutes entered the game on the hour mark as Cash, Bednarek, Dendoncker, Calum Chambers, Ludwig Augustinsson, and Danny Ings came on.
The latter immediately made his presence felt when he stung Reina’s palms with a fierce drive.
Despite the impact of Villa’s subs, it proved to be one of the opposition’s that made the breakthrough with 12 minutes left.
A misplaced pass from Chambers struck Nicolas Jackson before landing at the feet of Capoue, who shimmied onto his left foot before rifling a shot past Marschall.
Aston Villa: Olsen (Marschall 45’), A.Young (Cash 60’), Konsa (Chambers 60’), Mings (Bednarek 60’), Digne (Augustinsson 60’), Luiz (Nakamba 85’), Kamara (Dendoncker 60’), McGinn (Raikhy 85’), Bailey (K.Young 73’), Buendia (Archer 85’), Watkins (Ings 60’).
Unused subs: Zych.
