Samuel Chukwueze was on target and also created an assist in 22 minutes of action for Villarreal in their 5-1 win over FC Cartagena in the Copa Del Rey Round of 32 at the Estadio Cartagonova on Tuesday.
Head coach Quique Setién made eight changes to the team that started their La Liga game against Valencia over the weekend with Chukwueze starting the game from the bench.
Hosts Cartagena took the lead in the 39th minute through centre-back Pablo Vazquez to end the half 1-0. The Yellow Submarines returned from the half time break and brought in some first ten players to change the outlook of the game.
Alex Baena scored the equaliser just four minutes after the break in the 49th minute. Arnaut Danjuma gave the visitors the lead in the 56th minute while Jose Morales made it 3-1 in the 61st minute.
Danjuma made way for Chukwueze in the 68th minute and the Nigeria international was on target in the 85th minute before providing the assist for Etienne Cape to round off the game 5-1 to see them progress to the round of 16.
Reacting to the win, Stein says he is delighted with the victory but they could have done better in terms of ball circulation and accuracy.
“I’m happy with some things and not so happy with others. We lacked a bit of accuracy and speed in our ball circulation. They are a very physical team who put in a lot of crosses and that’s where we were going to suffer. We’ll take lessons from the game and the best thing is that we’re winning. That’s always positive.”