You would have struggled to believe that these two were level on points coming into this game as Villarreal established supremacy right from the get-go. Their first approach came before the 15th minute when Pape Gueye came only inches away from breaking the deadlock with an effort that went wide off the right of Dominik Greif’s goal. That would be a sign of things to come, however, and it didn’t take long for Villarreal to open the scoring when Logan Costa nodded home a corner kick delivery from Dani Parejo while taking advantage of Grief’s atrocious attempt to gather the cross. That goal would open the floodgates, and there was no looking back.
Displaying an attacking power unseen in LaLiga this season, Villarreal found the back of the net three more times over the next four minutes to build a massive lead. Right after Costa’s goal, El Submarino Amarillo bolstered their tally via Álex Baena, Parejo and Yeremi Pino in the 24th, 26th and 28th minutes, respectively, each time aided by Mallorca’s porous defensive work.
Worryingly for Jagoba Arrasate, his Mallorca side didn’t show any sort of reaction even after conceding four goals in quick succession. The lack of response was astonishing, and even though the opening 45 minutes finished with a 4-0 lead, it wouldn’t have been surprising had Villarreal added another tally before the HT break.
Mallorca made four substitutions during HT in an attempt to spark things up, and while they could’ve pulled one back through Vedat Muriqi in the 58th minute, they failed to create many scoring situations against a composed Villarreal defense. El Submarino Amarillo didn’t look as dominant as they were in the first half, but they looked dangerous every time they stepped up a gear. Ultimately, though, there were no more goals in the second half, as the game was practically over since the midpoint of the opening 45 minutes, allowing the hosts to cruise to an easy victory in front of their fans. The most noteworthy aspect of the second half was the injury sustained by Martin Valjent, with the Mallorca centre-back departing the contest after being elbowed by Baena.
This was the fourth time Villarreal scored at least four goals in the 2024/25 campaign, and the win allowed them to take sole possession of the fifth place in the standings with a three-point advantage over Mallorca, and this should act as a sizable confidence booster amid the questionable stretch of results in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the visitors snapped a two-game winning run with this woeful loss, and there’s no question this is a game they’ll aim to forget as soon as possible after suffering their third defeat over their last five Liga outings (W2, L3).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dani Parejo (Villarreal CF)
