Villarreal have been knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the round of 16 after throwing away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Real Madrid at Estadio de la Cerámica.

Tapping confidence from their 2-1 victory over Real Madrid 12 days ago, Villarreal took charge of this game early on.

Within just four minutes of football, Etienne Capoue smashed the ball into the net after being set up by Gerard Moreno to make it 1-0.

Three minutes before half time, Chukwueze made it 2-0. The Nigerian made a flick pass to his teammate before being set up to finish the team move in the penalty box and cap a dominant first half from Villarreal.

Carlo Ancelloti’s Real Madrid side came roaring back in the second half. Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio both came off the bench to replace Toni Kroos and Rodrygo respectively.

It was an instant impact for Ceballos as a sloppy play from Villarreal turned the ball over to Real Madrid. The Los Blancos immediately capitalized on this as Ceballos set up Vini Jr for the first goal.

In the 69th minute, Madrid played a corner into the box but was cleared from danger by the Yellow Submarines. The ball was put back into the dangerous 18yard box by Dani Ceballos which was then headed by Captain Karim Benzema. The keeper parried the ball to the path of Eder Militao who made no mistake in scoring the equalizer.

17 minutes later, Dani Ceballos finally got on the scoresheet and it was a memorable one as he scored the winner. Asensio keeps the ball alive after an overhit pass from Vinicius. He finds Ceballos on the edge of the box and the midfielder finishes first-time past Jorgensen.

Chukwueze now has fifteen goal involvements this season (8 goals, 7 assists) in 27 appearances.

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