Villarreal secure victory over Mallorca
Reuters - Tuesday 20 September 2011, 22:11
Villarreal ended their poor early-season
run of form when Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar struck in a 2-0 win
at home to Real Mallorca in La Liga on Tuesday.
Italy striker Rossi beat Mallorca's Dudu Aouate from a tight
angle in the eighth minute at the Madrigal before Brazil forward
Nilmar made it 2-0 seven minutes into the second half when he
rounded the Israeli goalkeeper and fired into an empty net.
Michael Laudrup's Mallorca side mounted a spirited fightback
towards the end of the game and Colombian defender Cristian
Zapata acrobatically hooked the ball off the home goal-line near
the end of regular time.
It was a first win in four games for Villarreal, who
finished fourth last term and are competing in this season's
Champions League.
Osasuna bounced back from Saturday's 8-0 humiliation at
Barcelona and were unlucky not to get more than a point in a 0-0
draw at home to Sevilla, while Real Sociedad climbed to fifth
thanks to a 1-0 win against promoted Granada in San Sebastian.
On Wednesday, Real Madrid will try to put Sunday's shock 1-0
defeat at Levante behind them at Racing Santander while champions Barca visit leaders Valencia.