Villarreal clinch win over Granada

Two goals early in the second half have helped Villarreal to a 3-1 victory over Granada at Los Carmenes in La Liga.

Granada had the majority of the early possession, but a Ruben Rochina cross failed to find any of his teammates, while Isaac Success saw his effort deflected behind for a corner.

Roberto Soldado had the first real chance of the game for the visitors when Samu Castillejo picked him out with a cross, but his header was cleared, while a second opportunity for the striker was blasted over.

Despite a relatively quiet first half, it did not take Villarreal long to make an impact in the second half, as Castillejo played the ball through to Manuel Trigueros on the edge of the area less than five minutes after the restart, setting him up for a slice into the left side of the target.

The visitors doubled their advantage less than two minutes later as Cedric Bakambu rounded a couple of defenders before rifling his finish into the roof of the net.

Granada started to see more of the ball inside the final 30 minutes as the home side tried to get back into the match, but Rochina saw his delivery into the box cleared by the Villarreal defenders.

Robert Ibanez managed to get in space on the edge of the box to get a shot away for the home side, but he hurried his finish and blasted the ball well high.

Granada did cut the visitors' lead in half a couple of minutes late though as a loose ball in the box fell to Fran Rico as Villarreal struggled to deal with another Rochina cross, allowing the midfielder to thump the ball home at the near post.

Villarreal tried to restore their two-goal cushion inside the final 15 minutes, but Trigueros was unable to add a second, while Denis Suarez poked his effort wide.

Rochina continued to look dangerous for Granada though, and came close to leveling the scores with just two minutes remaining as he hit the ball on the half-volley from the edge of the box, but it drifted just wide.

The visitors puts the result beyond doubt in injury time though as Samuel pounced on a rebound before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

The result moves Villarreal up to third in the La Liga table, while Granada sit ninth.