La Liga: Pape Gueye’s penalty gives Villarreal important derby victory

2025 Africa Cup of Nations hero Pape Gueye can now claim a Derbi de la Comunitat match winner among his accolades after converting from the penalty spot to give Villarreal a 2-1 La Liga victory over local rivals Valencia on Sunday.

After Largie Ramazani put visitors Valencia ahead with his own penalty kick in the 27th minute, a quick response arrived a few minutes later from Santi Comesaña to restore parity.

The decisive moment came just before halftime. Nicolas Pépé attempted to send a cross into the Valencia penalty area and the ball went off the hand of Ramazani at the corner of the box. After a VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot to send the home supporters into joy at El Madrigal.

Gueye made no mistake with a calm spot kick to send goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski the wrong way and give The Yellow Submarine a halftime lead they would not relinquish. The hosts went on to kill the second half off with solid defending for a second consecutive league victory.

EQUIPO BRUTAL 💛💙 pic.twitter.com/eTvpoed6sY

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) February 22, 2026

The Senegalese midfielder was immense, winning all five of his duels while showing efficiency with his passing. The 27-year-old continues to show his qualities as a true “box-to-box” midfielder and now has 3 goals 3 goals and an assist in 28 appearances this season.

The victory sends Villarreal back into third place with a three-point lead on fourth place Atlético Madrid. Another difficult fixture comes next Saturday when they travel to face league leaders FC Barcelona, who lead rivals Real Madrid by only one point.