Villarreal beats Celta Vigo to ease their relegation woes

With a win in their final game before the Christmas break, Villarreal allayed worries of being dragged into a relegation race. The Yellow Submarine raced to a 3-0 lead over Celta Vigo before battling back to win.

Alfonso Pedraza scored from an angle before limping off with an injury, and Aissa Mandi calmly converted a rebound five minutes before halftime. A trip on Alberto Moreno resulted in a penalty, which Dani Parejo converted three minutes after the interval, and that should have been the end of it for Villarreal but Celta had other plans. Anastasios Douvikas scored on a free-kick in the 52nd minute, and Jorgen Strand Larsen made it 3-2 just before the hour mark. Villarreal clung to their lead dearly in the rest of the match despite 15 minutes of additional time. As a consequence, Villarreal currently sits six points clear of Celta in the final relegation zone, and they have risen to 13th in the league for the time being.