Ikechukwu Uche was on target for Villarreal as they scraped a 2-1 win against FC Salzburg in a hard-fought Uefa Europa League round of 32 first leg tie at the Estadio El Madrigal on Thursday.
Jonathan Soriano’s away goal means the Spanish La Liga outfit yet have it all to do in the second leg next Thursday in Austria- a day to the round of 16 draw.
Uche capped Villarreal’s spell of sustained pressure in the opening half-hour with an opening goal but, however, fluffed a chance to put paid to the Yellow Submarines’ qualification job late on, after the impressive Denis Cheryshev had restored their goal cushion following Soriano’s leveler.
Uche gave the hosts a first-half lead, blasting in Peter Gulasci’s rebound of Luciano Vietto’s effort in the 32nd minute.
The Nigeria international could have seized initiative with a third goal having being played in by Vietto on a counter but squandered the chance.
The win ended a two-game losing streak for Villareal. Uche’s goal was his first in the competition since September (2-2 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach), and his seventh in call competitions so far.
Europa League Results
Roma 1 Feyenoord 1
Torino 2 Athletic Bilbao 2
Wolfsburg 2 Sporting 0
Dnipro 2 Olympiakos 0
Celtic 3 Inter Milan 3
Young Boys 1 Everton 4
Sevilla 1 Monchengladbach 0
Ajax 1 Legia 0
AaB 1 Club Brugge 3
Anderlecht 0 Dynamo Moscow 0
Trabzonspor 0 Napoli 4
Guingamp 2 Dynamo Kiev 1
PSV 0 Zenit 1
Liverpool 1 Besiktas 0
Tottenham 1 Fiorentina 1
