With a comfortable victory on Wednesday at 10-man Betis, Villarreal climbed to the top four in La Liga and within three points from Sevilla.
Gerard Moreno struck twice inside the opening half-hour to put the Yellow Submarine on course for the three points, with Betis being reduced to ten men on the half-time stroke when Nabil Fekir was sent off.
The game outcome was never in doubt and was overwhelmingly one-sided throughout with Marc Bartra giving Carlos Bacca an unfair penalty with a foul in the seventh minute.
Moreno made no mistake from the spot and doubled the lead after a neat swivel 23 minutes later and turned past Betis defender Sidnei, with a composed finish.
It was another sluggish display from the hosts who sacked boss Rubi last week and with sporting director Alexis Trujillo as interim coach until the end of the season.
This continued Villarreal ‘s impressive turnaround in results – they have now won 16 points from six games, and host title-chasing Barcelona on Sunday after Spanish football resumed last month.
Real Valladolid and Levante drew without goals in another night game-0:0.
