Two VAR interventions shape Villarreal’s 2-1 win over Valencia

The Comunidad Valenciana derby between Valencia and Villarreal featured two VAR interventions. Villarreal won 2-1, while the first review resulted in a penalty converted by Pepelu to put Valencia ahead.

In the 34th minute, referee Alejandro Quintero had initially allowed play to continue after Renato Veiga made contact with Dani Raba. From the VAR room, José Antonio López Toca asked him to review the incident for a possible penalty after a suspected stamp. At the monitor, Quintero was shown the images from different angles. He asked for a version « with more intensity », then checked with Toca that it was the best available image. After VAR confirmed that it was, the referee announced his decision: a penalty and a yellow card.

The second intervention also sent Quintero to the monitor, this time to review a possible elbow. VAR recommended that he assess whether the action amounted to violent conduct or serious foul play with the arm. The images were then shown to him, alongside VAR’s view that excessive force had been used. Quintero agreed with that assessment: Pape Gueye was protecting the ball, but had moved his arm away when the ball was not being contested. He sent Gueye off for excessive force.

The referee’s report places the dismissal in the 79th minute and says Gueye struck an opponent in the face with his arm, using excessive force in a challenge for the ball. The report also says the two cautions preceding the dismissal were for conspicuous protests against a decision by the referee.

The result came with the sides in different positions in Liga. After 10 matches, Villarreal were 8th on 12 points, while Valencia were 19th on 6. Villarreal had 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats, with 15 goals scored and 14 conceded; Valencia had 1 win, 3 draws and 6 defeats, scoring 7 and conceding 17. In their five most recent league matches, Villarreal had recorded 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, while Valencia had 1 win, 2 draws and 2 defeats. Villarreal therefore held a 6-point lead over their neighbours in the table.