Villarreal Claim Europa League On Penalties At Gdansk

Villarreal stunned Manchester United after a marathon penalty shoot-out, with goalkeeper David de Gea missing the last spot-kick, in the Europa League final to hand Villarreal their first-ever major trophy in Gdansk.

The Wednesday thriller 1-1 after 120 minutes as Gerard Moreno put the unfancied Spaniards ahead in the 29th minute before Edinson Cavani levelled early in the second half.

But Villarreal won a remarkable shoot-out 11-10, leaving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still waiting for his first trophy as United manager.

Unai Emery proved once again that he is the master of the Europa League with any team that he coaches as he guided the yellow submarines to their first-ever European title.

Villarreal were the underdogs and they played like it from the start of the game to the finish, Raul Albiol and Capoue really stood their ground at the back -- clearing out Manchester United creative play.

Dani Parejo's cross was met by Gerard Moreno's outstretched legs to guide the ball past De Gea in the first 30 minutes of the final at Gdansk.

United could not get back in the game in the first half as Villarreal sat deep back to keep them from picking their pockets. After the half time interval, United struck back to restore parity when a strike from Bruno Fernandes was deflected into the path of Edinson Cavani and he tucked it home.

The yellow submarines were composed with no real pressure upfront but kept plugging till the final whistle.

The two halves of the extra-time offered no real solution to United with numerous names including Marcus Rashford taking off the game.

Spectacular Penalties

The two sides were better at penalties, it almost seemed as if they planned it would end at penalties as they both scored every kick.

The penalties went round from the first 5-takers to the next five. It was time for the keeper. Rulli who had been Villarreal's wall in-between the stickers played his kick just as a striker would, blasting it into the roof of the net past De Gea.

For ManU, De Gea's touch was too soft compared to the rest of the players as the Argentine goalie, Rulli punched it away to claim the title for Spain and for Villarreal.

The victory means Spain clubs have won most of the European cups -- Champions League and Europa since 2010;.