Villarreal complete late comeback to beat Valencia 2–1 at Mestalla
Villarreal came from behind to beat Valencia 2-1 at Mestalla in LaLiga on 24 October 2026. Alex Freeman cancelled out Pepelu’s first-half penalty, and Georges Mikautadze scored the winning goal deep in added time. Both teams finished with 10 players.
Pepelu opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half. Valencia CF’s official report says Dani Raba won the penalty and Pepelu converted it, while Villarreal’s account also identifies Pepelu as the scorer of the opening goal. The home side therefore went into the interval ahead, despite Villarreal having created early pressure.
Villarreal levelled in the second half through Alex Freeman. The visiting club’s report credits Sergi Cardona’s cross and Freeman’s header; ESPN and FotMob list Freeman’s equaliser at 69 minutes. The match then became more difficult for both teams: Pape Gueye was sent off for Villarreal and Harvey Elliott was dismissed for Valencia after a second yellow card, according to ESPN’s event log and Valencia’s match report.
The decisive moment came deep in added time. Georges Mikautadze scored Villarreal’s second goal, with ESPN recording the finish at 90+6 and FotMob listing the same minute. Villarreal’s official report describes the late goal as the moment that settled the derby, giving the visitors a 2–1 win after trailing.
The available match figures also support the direction of the result without adding speculation about tactics. FotMob records Villarreal with 62 per cent possession to Valencia’s 38 per cent, 19 total shots to 9, and an expected-goals figure of 1.50 to Valencia’s 1.13. Those figures are included only as the published match-page statistics. They do not change the central result: Villarreal scored twice after falling behind and finished with the higher scoreline.
Juan Foyth started as Villarreal’s captain. Valencia CF’s official report lists “Foyth ©” in the visitors’ lineup and records his substitution in the second half. That identifies the winning side’s starting match captain without assuming that he was still on the pitch for the late winning goal.
The completed final score was Valencia 1, Villarreal 2. The two clubs’ reports and completed match coverage agree on the away comeback victory. Read the earlier Valencia vs Villarreal preview, or visit the Football hub for more coverage.
