Pepe's Goal in Injury Time Saves Villarreal and Knocks Atletico Madrid

JAKARTA - Dramatic, Villarreal escaped defeat in the last minute when drawing 1-1 against hosts Deportivo Alaves in a Spanish LaLiga match at Mendizorroza Stadium, Saturday, March 14, 2026 WIB. The result has helped Villarreal rise to third place while overtaking Atletico Madrid.

The tight competition for third place in the Spanish League as Villarreal and Atletico are equal. Their chances of catching the leaders of the standings Barcelona and Real Madrid who occupy the second position seem to be heavy. They are already quite far behind the two teams above them.

However, Villarreal and Atletico have also secured tickets to the Champions League next season because they are 11 points ahead of Real Betis who are in fifth place. On the other hand, Villarreal and Atletico will take turns to occupy the third place because the points difference is very close.

Villarreal got the opportunity to return to the third position after getting an additional one point from the draw against Alaves. The result makes The Yellow Submarines have 55 points. One point ahead of Atletico who will host Getafe, Saturday night. If they get a draw, Atletico can take back the position because they have a better goal difference than Villarreal.

Meanwhile, Alaves must be wary because they are still struggling at the bottom. The threat of relegation to LaLiga 2 is very open because they are only ranked 16th with 28 points. Alaves is only three points ahead of 18th-ranked Mallorca who are in the relegation zone.

The match itself was quite tight. Alaves who are hunting for victory are trying to play offensively. Only their attacks did not bear fruit. Even though they were superior in ball possession, the weakness of the final solution made it difficult for Alaves to score.

After many failed attempts, their efforts bore fruit towards the end of the match. Alaves benefited from a self-goal by defender Rafa Marin while anticipating a back heel kick from striker Toni Martinez. When anticipating the ball from Martinez, Marin's header, which was intended to throw the ball away, instead slid into his own goal in the 40th minute.

Behind 1-0, Villarreal immediately hit when the match entered the first half injury time. Even the visiting team got a good chance through Santi Comesana. But his shot could be blocked by goalkeeper Antonio Sivera which made the ball rebound.

The ball was received by Comesana and again Sivera could hold it. Villarreal's attack ended after Nicolas Pepe's shot that greeted the rebound ball soared.

Entering the second half, Villarreal took the initiative to attack. The team coached by Marcelino Garcia created a number of opportunities. However, they struggled to penetrate the Alaves defense which wanted to secure their advantage. Including Pepe's shot which still bounced over the crossbar in the 73rd minute.

When Villarreal was expected to lose because the match was entering injury time, Pepe appeared as a savior. It started with a long pass from Comesana that led to the penalty box.

The ball was successfully greeted by Pepe who did not get any escort from the Alaves player. The former Arsenal player calmly shot into the top corner of the goal without being reached by goalkeeper Sivera.

The goal that was created in the 90th minute +8 thwarted Alaves' victory. The score changed to 1-1 and lasted until the end of the match.