With the world an increasingly dark place, a little light was shone upon the place in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night as Santi Cazorla scored his first goal since returning to Villarreal.
The affable Spanish midfielder took over two years to recuperate from a chronic achilles injury that brought a premature end to his stint with Arsenal and came perilously close to ending his career altogether.
However, after undergoing ten surgeries in 18 months (and having to fight off a bout of gangrene), Cazorla made his third debut for Villarreal back in July, some 636 days on from his last appearance on a football pitch.
Last night, the 33-year-old firmly announced himself ‘back on the scene’ by grabbing his first goal since his return – a stupendous 20-yard pearler against Almeria…
Santi Cazorla ha vuelto 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/KrVoBcTGdY
— Borja López (@MiFutbol5) 1 November 2018
No wonder Villarreal used an actual magician (and a glass tube full of dry ince) to unveil Cazorla when he re-signed for the club.
The little chap really is exceptional.