La Liga wrap: Villarreal find form, Sevilla miss out

Villarreal shrugged off their slow start to the La Liga season on Tuesday, posting their first win with a 2-0 triumph over Mallorca.

After a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League was followed by a 1-0 defeat to promoted Granada, boss Juan Carlos Garrido was desperate for three points when his side entertained Mallorca at Estadio El Madrigal.

His men did not disappoint, and they took the lead in the eighth minute when Giuseppe Rossi latched on to a through ball from Jose Catala before firing a shot past Dudu Aouate in the Mallorca goal.

That was where the score stayed until seven minutes after the break, when Brazilian striker Nilmar put them two ahead with a neat finish.

In other results on Tuesday, Real Sociedad climbed to fifth when a spectacular strike from Daniel Estrada handed them a 1-0 win over Granada.

Estrada was spotted by Carlos Vela on the right flank and the 24-year-old produced a curling effort with the outside of his foot that swerved past Roberto in the Granada goal.

Sevilla moved into third on the La Liga table courtesy of their 0-0 draw at Osasuna, though Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side could have gone top with a win.