Super eagle Samuel Chukweze ends 12 games goal drought as Villarreal suffers a 2-1 defeat from relegation threaten Alaves

Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze ended his 12 games without a goal in La Liga as Villarreal suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Alaves at the Mendizorroza in Vitoria-Gasteiz on Saturday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Yellow Submarines’ hope of playing in European competition next season suffered a major blow after relegation-threatened Alaves handed them their second defeat in four days.

Unai Emery’s men were looking to bounce back from their midweek 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final clash at Anfield.

Victor Laguardia gave the host an early lead just four minutes into the encounter before Gonzalo Escalante doubled the lead with 31 minutes on the clock.

Chukwueze managed to score in the 47th minute after controlling a pass from Giovani Lo Celso before advancing into the danger zone and unleashing a powerful shot past Fernando Pacheco.

The goal was the Nigerian third goal of the season and his first since December 18, 2021 when he scored against Real Sociedad on match-day 18 of the 2021/22 season.

Though his late goal in the second leg of the quarter-final stage of the Champions League against Bayern Munich was enough to send Villarreal to the semi-finals, the 22-year-old had failed to find the target in his last 12 games in the league.

The Nigeria international however ended his goal drought in style but it was not enough to save Villarreal from dropping to seventh on the log

Mike Cookey