The hosts were dominant throughout and should’ve had a larger deficit going into the second leg but were wasteful in front of goal, though they will be happy with the win
Cedric Bakambu struck twice as Villarreal beat a depleted Sparta Prague 2-1 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final at El Madrigal on Thursday.
Sparta goalkeeper David Bicik gifted Villarreal the opener in the third minute, dallying and hitting a clearance off striker Bakambu, which ricocheted into the net.
Ladislav Krejci's goal was rightly ruled out for Sparta and Bicik made a string of saves before Jakub Brabec headed a potentially key away goal in first-half injury time.
Bakambu put the hosts back in front after half-time with a superbly taken effort after Denis Suarez created space on the edge of the penalty area.
Bicik made yet more saves in the second half to keep Sparta, one of two unbeaten sides in the competition, within touching distance, as Bakambu was denied a hat-trick by the goalkeeper's excellent reactions.
Injury-hit Sparta's task is made tougher by Mario Holek limping off and Brabec and Costa Nhamoinesu both collecting bookings that rule them out of the second leg.
Their evening got off to a shocking start as Villarreal took the lead inside three minutes, goalkeeper Bicik taking too long on the ball and allowing Bakambu to charge his clearance down and deflect it into the net.
Cedric Bakambu struck twice as Villarreal beat a depleted Sparta Prague 2-1 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final at El Madrigal on Thursday.
Sparta goalkeeper David Bicik gifted Villarreal the opener in the third minute, dallying and hitting a clearance off striker Bakambu, which ricocheted into the net.
Ladislav Krejci's goal was rightly ruled out for Sparta and Bicik made a string of saves before Jakub Brabec headed a potentially key away goal in first-half injury time.
Bakambu put the hosts back in front after half-time with a superbly taken effort after Denis Suarez created space on the edge of the penalty area.
Bicik made yet more saves in the second half to keep Sparta, one of two unbeaten sides in the competition, within touching distance, as Bakambu was denied a hat-trick by the goalkeeper's excellent reactions.
Injury-hit Sparta's task is made tougher by Mario Holek limping off and Brabec and Costa Nhamoinesu both collecting bookings that rule them out of the second leg.
Their evening got off to a shocking start as Villarreal took the lead inside three minutes, goalkeeper Bicik taking too long on the ball and allowing Bakambu to charge his clearance down and deflect it into the net.
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