Europa League Final 2021: Villarreal vs Manchester United: Statistical Highlights

Bengaluru, May 27: Villarreal beat Manchester United 11-10 on penalties at the PGE Arena Gdansk in Poland in the Europa League 2021 final to clinch their first major silverware at the continental level.

Gerard Moreno opened the scoring in the first half (29th minute) for Villarreal before Edinson Cavani equalised early in the second half (55th) with his sixth goal in five Europa League games for United and the two sides remained level at 1-1 after extra time.

Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli then kept his composure to score in a nerve-shredding, seemingly never-ending shootout then denied David de Gea as his side won their first major trophy.

In the first European final to be played in front of a crowd in two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Villarreal survived a tough second half before going on to edge the longest shootout in any European final.

Villarreal 1-1 Manchester United (11-10 on pens): De Gea's missed spot-kick gives Yellow Submarine finest hour

The win gave Villarreal coach Unai Emery a record fourth title in the competition, leaving United without a trophy since their Europa League triumph in 2017.

With Stats Perform inputs, myKhel.com looks at statistical highlights from the match.

● Villarreal are the first side to win in their first appearance in a major European final since Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.

● Manchester United have lost six of their last seven penalty shoot-outs in all competitions, only winning against Rochdale in the League Cup in September 2019 in that time.

● Villarreal boss Unai Emery is the first manager to win either the UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League four times, surpassing Giovanni Trapattoni.

● Villarreal became the 13th side in Europe's big five leagues to hit the 100-goal milestone in all competitions this season (100).

● The three shots on target produced in the game (1 for Villarreal and 2 for Man Utd) was the lowest tally in a UEFA Europa League final since Porto v Sporting Braga in 2011 also saw just three.

● Gerard Moreno netted his 82nd goal in all competitions for Villarreal, joining Giuseppe Rossi as the club's all-time top-scorer.

● Gerard Moreno became the first player to score 30+ goals for Villarreal in a single season in all competitions since Giuseppe Rossi in 2010-11 (32).

● Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani became just the third player aged 34 or above to score in a major European final for an English club, after Gary McAllister (36) for Liverpool in the UEFA Cup final versus Alavés in 2000-01 and Didier Drogba (34) for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final versus Bayern Munich in 2011-12

● Manchester United's Edinson Cavani has scored 16 goals in his last 11 starts in the UEFA Europa League.

● At 18 years and 218 days, Villarreal's Yeremi Pino became the youngest Spaniard ever to start a major European final, overtaking Iker Casillas (19y 4d for Real Madrid v Valencia in 2000 UEFA Champions League final).

● Manchester United's Mason Greenwood made his 52nd appearance this season in all competitions, the joint-most of any teenager with a team from Europe's big five leagues along with Barcelona's Pedri.

(Stats provided by OPTA)