Villarreal secured a first home victory over Real Madrid since December 2015, as second-half goals from Yeremy Pino and Gerard Moreno fired the Yellow Submarine to a famous 2-1 triumph at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
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Having survived an opening 15 minutes dominated by the hosts, Los Blancos gradually grew into the match before the half-hour mark, however the usually-reliable Karim Benzema and defender Éder Militão both fired excellent chances narrowly wide of the target.
Villarreal emerged after the restart eager to stamp their authority on proceedings, and duly opened the scoring within two minutes, as Yeremy Pino collected a clever pass from Gerard Moreno, before finishing coolly beyond Courtois.
Undeterred by the setback, the visitors searched for an immediate response, and after Benzema spurned another glorious opportunity, the French international made no mistake from the penalty spot following an unfortunate handball by Juan Foyth in the box.
Remarkably, the hosts were awarded a penalty of their own just two minutes later, when David Alaba was penalised for handball, allowing Moreno to step up and restore the Yellow Submarine’s advantage.
However, despite seeing plenty of the ball and a late opportunity for Antonio Rüdiger, Los Blancos were unable to make their pressure count, as the Villarreal rearguard held firm to inflict a costly defeat on the title-chasing visitors.
