Just after winning La Liga’s October Player of the Month, on form DR Congo forward Cedrick Bakambu continues to flourish with his fine. The 26-year-old striker needed only 30 minutes at the Astana Arena to seal the Yellow Submarine’s qualification to the next round of 32.
DR Congo teammate Kabanaga opened the scoring with a stunning left footed curl from outside the box in the 22nd minute. Villareal managed to pull one back before the break thanks to Danel Raba but it was not until the 60th minute mark that the game started to settle in their favor.
With no progress at the hour mark, Javi Calleja brought in his danger man Cedrick Bakambu to head the search for a winning goal. He didn’t betray his gaffer’s faith, putting Villarreal ahead for the first time in the game just five minutes after coming on.
He soon sealed the victory in the 83rd minute with another stunner beating Nenad Eric with utmost ease. Ghana’s Twumasi found a late goal to take his tally to an amazing four in five Europa games but it was too late to pull his side back into the game.
The Congolese striker has now netted 11 times in 16 games across all competitions putting him in the company of Europe’s most lethal strikers.
In the other games, Arsenal also progressed to the next round despite the 1-0 loss to Cologne in Germany. Five-time European winners’ AC Milan also confirmed their place with a 5-1 win over Austria Wien while fellow Italian side humiliated Everton 5-1 at the Goodison Park.
French giants Lyon also progressed after a 4-0 drubbing of Cyprus’ Appollon Limassol, and will be joined by rivals Nice who beat Zulte Waregem 3-1 thanks to a Mario Balotelli brace.
Featured Photo: villarreal.com
