Nigeria winger Samuel Chukwueze was in action for Villarreal against Celta Vigo in the Spanish Premiera League on Saturday.
The youngster played for 55 minutes as the Yellow Submarines suffered a 3-2 defeat to Celta Vigo at the Estadio de la Ceramica and are now 17 points behind leaders Barcelona.
Chukwueze was replaced by two-goal hero Carlos Bacca. Brais Mendez found the net shortly before halftime off a pass from Iago Aspas.
Celta then quickly built on their lead at the start of the second half, getting a second goal from Okay Yokuslu in the 49th minute and a third from Maxi Gomez two minutes later.
Villarreal head coach Javier Calleja, who had already sent on Karl Toko Ekambi at the start of the second half, responded to the three-goal deficit by taking out Chukwueze and inserting yet another striker – Bacca.
It took time for that latter move to have the desired effect, although the Colombian forward put two balls in the back on the net over a five-minute span.
He first scored in the 83rd minute on an indirect free kick in the area following a blunder by Celta goalkeeper Ruben Blanco, who had gathered a back pass by a defender with his hands.
Bacca then scored again with a close-range header on a corner-kick play in the 87th minute even though it appeared he might have been offside.
Villarreal desperately tried to salvage a point but were closed down by the well-organised Celta Vigo backline.
