Granada boss Paco Lopez is much beloved for his ambitious football and the entertaining games he inspires, but sooner or later, he will have to include some results in his programme in order to keep himself in a job.
Against Villarreal on Monday night, Los Nazaries suffered another frustrating defeat, going down 3-2 to Villarreal in dramatic fashion. Gerard Moreno had given Villarreal the lead after Alexander Sorloth strolled down the left and supplied him in the middle.
Alex Baena would then send Sorloth clear of the defence in the middle, and the Norwegian was brought down by Andre Ferreira in a one-on-one situation. Moreno rolled the penalty to Ferreira’s left into the corner, and then Sorloth got on the scoresheet himself with a fine finish into the corner.
#GranadaCF have no issues scoring goals. Nobody outside of the European places has scored more than their 17.
But it means little while they continue to concede 2.55 goals per game. Paco Lopez is yet to get a clean sheet out of his side. pic.twitter.com/DddLQzPnYZ
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 31, 2023
It looked as if the Yellow Submarine had finally found their groove, but just a minute later, Ricard Sanchez was found in behind Baena by an excellent Gonzalo Villar pass. He picked out the top corner with his finish.
Before the 35th minute, Myrto Uzuni had Granada back within striking distance and Antonio Puertas could have levelled things with a free header before the break too.
The second half was not under control for either side, but the golden chance to earn Lopez a point came in stoppage time, as Famara Diedhiou burst through the Villarreal defence on the counter, only for Filip Jorgensen to come up with a major save.
It’s a result that confirms Granada’s spot in 19th place for another week, with just 6 points from 11 games. Villarreal, delighted just to escape in tact without letting a disaster occur are up to 12th, but it was a game that spoke to both of their deficiencies.
Granada can score goals for fun, but too many of them are desperate efforts to get back into the game. conceding an average of five goals every two matches, Lopez is requiring his attack to be one of the best in Europe just to get a narrow win. Soft at the back again, he appears yet to have made the necessary adjustments.
Meanwhile Pacheta will have been relieved to get the win, just his second in La Liga out of seven games. Yet the fashion it came in will only further concern the Yellow Submarine. Showing pieces of quality, they continue to operate without a control in every match they play, lacking in a subsconscious strategy to revert to under pressure.
