Villarreal boosted their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stage after goals from Etienne Capoue and Nigerian-born Arnaut Danjuma gave the Spanish side a 2-0 home win over Swiss rivals Young Boys in Group F on Tuesday.
Danjuma was born in Lagos, Nigeria to a Dutch father and Nigerian mother, and was eligible for either national team. But under the now sacked Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman, he was named in the Netherlands squad in October 2018 and played his first international match against Germany on 13 October when he came as a 68th minute substitute.
Four days later, he scored his first international goal against Belgium. In the Champions League match on Tuesday, the result left Villarreal second on seven points from four games, behind Manchester United on an inferior head-to-head record and two ahead of third-placed Atalanta. Young Boys have three points and only a slim chance of advancing.
The home side, who won the reverse fixture 4-1 last month, were made to work harder this time as Young Boys always looked dangerous on the break and missed a string of chances.
Capoue delighted the home fans in the 36th minute when he knocked in his own rebound from close range after visiting goalkeeper Guillaume Faivre parried the French midfielder’s header straight back into his path.
Young Boys dominated the second half and had the ball in the back of the net in the 55th minute, but Christian Fassnacht’s header was scrapped after a VAR check deemed Nicolas Buergy offside in the build up.
The home side’s defender Raul Albiol then headed a long-range Fabian Rieder lob off the line before Faivre parried Danjuma’s fierce shot and Capoue fired inches wide of the far post at the other end.
Young Boys pressed in the closing stages as Meschack Elia came close but they were caught cold in the 89th minute as Danjuma pulled away from his marker and slipped the ball past Faivre to seal Villarreal’s win.
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