Football
PA Sport 8y

Marcelino happy with Villarreal win despite misses vs. Sparta Prague

Villarreal coach Marcelino rued a succession of missed chances after his side took only a single-goal advantage from the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Sparta Prague.

Cedric Bakambu scored twice but he and his teammates failed to add to their tally as Sparta goalkeeper David Bicik redeemed himself for the error that gifted Bakambu his early opener.

Defender Jakub Brabec gave the Czech side hope with a header in first-half stoppage time to leave them facing only a 2-1 deficit.

And Marcelino told his club's website: "If a team has 27 shots on goal, 12 clear chances and the opponent only two shots on target, it is normal that you win by more than one goal.

"The team generated a lot of chances, but we failed to take them. It's a shame that what happened on the field was not marked with a wider victory [margin].

"We are pleased that despite all that we got a win, which is not bad. You have to look on the bright side. It's a closer result than we merited, but we can be very satisfied.''

Bakambu had five goals in as many games going into the match and took only three minutes to add to his hot streak -- albeit in bizarre fashion as he charged down Bicik's ponderous clearance following Martin Frydek's backpass.

Brabec levelled, but Bakambu confidently stroked home his second -- and his seventh in the competition this season -- just after the hour.

He was denied a hat-trick by several good saves from Bicik, who also denied Denis Suarez and Roberto Soldado, while Mario Gaspar hit the crossbar.

Looking ahead to the trip to the Czech capital, Marcelino said: "We are not going expecting a war, we'll go to play a football game. We go with a positive (first-leg) result.

"I hope in the next game fortune smiles on us. We have to defend better, attack in the same way and have more success in front of goal.''

Opposite number Zdenek Scasny praised his players' resilience.

"Of course, when we conceded at the outset, it was not good,'' Scasny said. "We gave them the goal with an error. When we settled, we got a goal and it gave us some hope.

"As I said before the game, Villarreal are the best team we have met this season. We've survived a lot of chances for our opponents.

"We have compiled a good result and hope for progress. In football anything is possible, so we can progress to the semifinals.''

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