Nigeria’s Oluwaseyi seals Villarreal win with stunning back-heel finish

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Villarreal forward Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi delivered a decisive, match-winning moment on Saturday as his late strike secured a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Mallorca in a tense La Liga encounter at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

The 21-year-old Nigerian, introduced in the 63rd minute, proved to be the difference in a match defined by tight margins, VAR drama and sustained pressure from both sides.

Villarreal started brightly, taking the lead in the 6th minute when Gerard Moreno poked home after Ayoze Pérez headed a cross across goal.

But Mallorca responded swiftly: Samu Costa finished clinically into the bottom corner in the 8th minute to make it 1–1.

The second half swung like a pendulum, with both sides crafting chances. Villarreal’s Lucas Bergström was forced into several brilliant saves, while VAR reviews dominated the final quarter of the game, first overruling a Villarreal penalty, then disallowing what appeared to be Oluwaseyi’s goal for offside.

In the 83rd minute, the Nigerian forward thought he had scored after finishing inside the box, but the assistant referee raised his flag and the goal was ruled out.

Just two minutes later, Oluwaseyi refused to be denied.

After a scramble in the Mallorca penalty area, the ball fell kindly to him. With superb instinct, he reacted fastest and produced a brilliant back-heel finish to beat Bergström, sending the home fans into raptures.

Referee José Guzmán immediately signalled for VAR to check a potential offside in the build-up. The review took an agonising period, but the decision ultimately stood, allowing Villarreal to celebrate what proved to be the decisive moment.

Mallorca flooded forward in the dying minutes, launching long balls and set pieces into Villarreal’s area. Johan Mojica and Vedat Muriqi both threatened, but the home defence held firm.

Tajon Buchanan and Luiz Júnior were booked late on as Villarreal managed the game’s closing stages, resisting Mallorca’s desperate attempts to snatch a point.

Oluwaseyi’s match-winning contribution not only secured three crucial points but also further cemented his impact in Villarreal’s attack since joining the first-team setup.