At Mendizorroza, the first half looked like a simple split between control and efficiency. Villarreal had more of the ball, but Alavés had the more meaningful moment, and that is why the scoreboard tilted their way at the break.
Alavés were set up to leave possession to Villarreal, stay compact, and break quickly through the wings. That plan worked. Villarreal could circulate the ball, but they could not turn that control into the final pass or the finish that would have made it count.
Ángel Pérez made the difference
The decisive action came when Ángel Pérez reached the byline and delivered the ball for Boyé to score. It was the kind of move that explained Alavés' approach perfectly: defend with discipline, wait for the right opening, and punish a side that was having trouble converting possession into danger.
Ángel Pérez was also the player repeatedly troubling Villarreal during the half, which made the goal less like a surprise and more like the natural reward for Alavés' best outlet. Villarreal, by contrast, had the territorial edge without the clarity that matters most.
Why Villarreal were frustrated
The issue was not that Villarreal lacked the ball. It was that they lacked the final touch. They controlled possession, but they could not consistently find the final pass or the finish, and that left them vulnerable to a direct response from Alavés.
There was also a setback in the half, with one Villarreal player going off injured, adding another layer of disruption to a period already defined by frustration. In a match like this, that kind of interruption matters because it can weaken rhythm just when a team needs to sharpen it.
At halftime, the story was clear: Villarreal had the numbers that usually suggest control, but Alavés had the better result. That is often the warning sign in games like this one. Possession can look reassuring right up until it stops producing anything useful.
