Nigerian forward, Ikechukwu Uche, on Thursday capped a fine display with a goal as Villarreal of Spain defeated their Austrian counterparts, Salzburg, 2-1 in a Europa League round of 32 tie.
Uche gave the home side a well-merited first-half lead, but they failed to capitalise on their chances and Jonatan Soriano’s penalty after the restart threatened to make them pay.
Denis Cheryshev quickly restored Villarreal’s lead, however, and they will take a slender lead into next week’s second leg.
Villarreal regained the initiative and no sooner had they done so than they broke the deadlock.
Uche did the damage, firing in a rebound after Gulácsi had denied Vietto.
A second goal nearly followed swiftly, but Vietto’s header dropped the wrong side of the post.
Villarreal were almost cruising, but the second half got off to the worst possible start as Victor Ruiz brought down Djuricin and Soriano made it 1-1.
If the Spanish side were stung they did not show it, and they responded with an excellent five-minute spell during which they put themselves back in front.
Cheryshev was at the heart of it, and moments after creating an opening for Uche he took matters into his own hands, controlling a pass and playing a one-two with Vietto before firing in.
The Yellow Submarine were soon on the hunt for a third, with Vietto playing in Uche on the counterattack, but the Nigerian could not capitalise and this tie remains in the balance.
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