Villarreal 3 - 0 Levante: Three and easy for Villarreal against Levante

Posted Sunday, February 28, 2016 by PA

Villarreal tightened their grip on the final Champions League spot with a comprehensive 3-0 win over 10-man Levante.

After upsetting Napoli in the Europa League during the week, the Yellow Submarine continued their impressive run to close the gap on Real Madrid to just two points.

They made a quick start to the game, with Leo Baptistao cutting in from the wing before firing a shot past Diego Marino from an acute angle.

Samu Castillejo finally ended his goal drought after half an hour to put the game out of Levante's reach.

Lopez Adrian broke down the left and drove at the Levante defence before squaring for Castillejo to slot home his first goal since arriving from Malaga in the summer.

Jose Luis Morales could have pulled a goal back for the visitors late in the first period, going past Mateo Musacchio inside the area before seeing his shot well-saved by Alphonse Areola.

Any hopes Levante had of getting back into the game after the break were dashed however, as Adrian's precise shot went in off the post to secure the points for Marcelinho's men in the 48th minute.

The visitors were dealt a further blow when David Navarro was shown red just before the hour-mark, his poor tackle on Baptistao drawing a second yellow card.

The win sees Villarreal retain their unbeaten run in La Liga, which stretches back to November and means Levante remain four points off safety in 19th place.