Villarreal of Spain winger, Samuel Chukwueze has received an assurance that he will have a UEFA Europa League gold medal added to his cabinet, despite missing Wednesday’s final due to injury, as his side romped to victory over Manchester United of England.
There was no Nigerian involvement in the final with Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze failing to recover from an injury to the rectus anterior, while Manchester United’s coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer left fast-rising youngster, Shola Shoretire out of his matchday squad.
Chukwueze appeared in 11 matches before Wednesday night’s final and Shoretire played one game as a substitute, against Real Sociedad in the round of 32, but they boh watched fro the stands, as Villarreal took the lead just before the half-hour mark, when Gerard Moreno half-volleyed the ball past goalkeeper De Gea after a fine free-kick swung in by Parejo.
Megasportsarena.com reports that nine minutes into the second half, United equalised through Edinson Cavani, as the hitman from Uruguay capitalized on a bit of fortune to finish from close range after a deflected shot on target fell kindly into his path.
Villarreal defended solidly as a group after United’s equaliser and were able to take the game to extra-time and later penalties to decide the winner of this season’s Europa League, but United’s goalkeeper, David De Gea gave away the trophy when he missed his spot kick after 20 outfield players and Chukwueze’s number one between the posts, Gerónimo Rulli converted their kicks.
It was another night of celebrations from the sidelines for Chukwueze, just as it had been during the semi-finals’ victory over Arsenal of England, when he had a good game before copping an injury and was taken off in the first half.
Back then, Arsenal needed one goal but were unable to find it after a 2-1 loss from the first leg in Spain, as Villarreal qualified for their first ever European final, while it became the first time in 25 years that The Gunners will not play on the continent in the coming season.
After the match, Chukwueze jumped off the bench again to join his teammates in celebrating with their coach, former Arsenal gaffer, Unai Emery, as they pulled off a double-iconic feat of spanking wo English Premier League clubs in quick succession.
