Alaves hang on for 2-1 win against Villarreal

Vitoria (Spain) April 18 (IANS) Deportivo Alaves took the lead in the first half and weathered a late surge by Villarreal to post a 2-1 victory here.

Rebounding from three straight losses the hosts climbed to the 11th place in La Liga with 43 points from 32 matches while Villarreal -- on 54 points -- missed an opportunity to put pressure on fourth-place Sevilla reports Efe.

Alaves dominated for the opening 15 minutes in front of nearly 18 000 spectators at Vitoria s Mendizorroza Stadium on Monday and threatened to take the lead in the seventh minute but visiting goalkeeper Andres Fernandez got help from the right post in stopping Ibai Gomez s shot and was quick to deny space for Deyverson on the rebound.

Home side keeper Fernando Pacheco was sharp when he needed to be stopping Villareal s Roberto Soriano in the 20th minute.

Rodrigo Ely came close to scoring for Alaves in the 32nd minute with a header off a corner by Ibai who broke the deadlock three minutes later delivering a hard low shot that left Fernandez with no chance.

Villarreal reacted winning four consecutive corners but they failed to capitalize and found themselves trailing 2-0 at the half after conceding a goal to Ely in the 44th minute.

The travelling side seized the initiative early in the second half though they continued to struggle in the final third against a well-organised Alaves defense.

Villarreal finally broke through in the 69th minute on a shot by Cedric Bakambu that deflected off Ely and into the net.

Pacheco denied Bakambu from point-blank range in the 84th minute to preserve the victory.

--IANS
gau/vt