Villarreal 4 Atletico Madrid 4, La Liga, 26/Oct/08

A tremendous comeback for Villarreal against ten-man Atlético was followed up by an equally incredible fightback by the visitors...Villarreal 4-4 Atlético Madrid. Despite Atleti going ahead just one minute into this encounter, the rojiblancos still ended up two goals down after Éver Banega's sending-off and a rampant second-half performance from the hosts.Simão's early opener was followed up by a lethal close-range finish from Diego Forlán, but after Éver was given his marching orders Senna, Llorente, Gonzalo and Rossi wrapped up the victory before Simão's consolation. 'Consolation', that was, before Raúl García popped up to seal a point with just four minutes to go...First Half Before the near-capacity crowd had even settled in their seats the hosts were behind. A slick passing move eventually saw Simão Sabrosa free on the edge of the box, and the Portuguese unleashed an amazing drive that Diego López could only get the faintest of touches to as it rattled off the crossbar and into the net.The visitors were well on top and Simão was again involved as he sprinted up the wing before cutting the ball back for Maniche, whose shot was well saved.Ill-temper began to take hold: Simão was booked for a foul on Pirès before Banega picked up his first yellow card 20 minutes in, but in fact there was another goal coming up.Despite Villarreal dominating possession, they went 2-0 on the break: Simão's ever-dangerous runs down the left bore fruit as Diego Forlán was given the ball in the area. There he turned and blasted it goalwards to silence his former fans at the Madrigal.Villarreal resumed possession and tested Leo Franco with long range efforts, one of which very nearly resulted in a goal and surely would have but for Leo Franco's gloves.But eight minutes before the break Éver Banega picked up a ridiculous second booking for a foul on Capdevila in a neutral area.Still, the hosts were unable to break their duck before the interval.Second Half That all changed just two minutes after the restart: Marcos Senna's swerving effort from thirty yards should have posed no problems for Leo Franco, but the gaffe-prone stopper failed to get his body behind the shot and could only watch as he deflected it into his own net.Three minutes later it was honours even thanks to hotshot Llorente, who followed up his midfield hat trick with a confident finish after taking advantage of some poor defending from the visitors to beat the offside trap.There was another example of dreadful rojiblanco defending seven minutes later as Domínguez played no fewer than three yellow shirts onside, allowing a bit of passing play on the six yard line before Gonzalo thumped it in past Franco.Leo Franco redeemed himself after his earlier error with a pair of saves from Senna and Cazorla, but he was to pick the ball out of the net once more as Cazorla teed up Giuseppe Rossi in the box. The young Italian rounded the goalie before side-footing home from close range.It looked as if it was well and truly game over, but Villarreal hadn't reckoned on the influence of Simão, who got on the end of a through ball to race past Gonzalo and then coolly beat López one-on-one. And the comeback of comebacks was complete two minutes later as Raúl García climbed highest in the box - accidentally elbowing teammates Miguel de las Cuevas in the process - to head home after - you guessed it - Simão's deep free-kick.