Villarreal 3-1 Valladolid: Nilmar Scores Twice In Impressive Yellow Submarines Performance

Villarreal's revival continued at El Madrigal this afternoon as they produced a confident display to defeat Valladolid 3-1 to edge within touching distance of the top half of the table.

It was record signing Nilmar's day, as the Brazilian netted twice to give his side a position of dominance, before Giuseppe Rossi rounded of the win with a third in the second half.

Valladolid's Diego da Silva produced a late consolation but it did not detract from a sixth consecutive home win in all competitions for the recovering Yellow Submarines.

The home side got off to an ideal start, opening the scoring after just seven minutes of play. Damian Escudero, who had been a doubt through an ankle injury but passed a late fitness test, provided the cross and Nilmar, fresh from vanquishing England for his country last weekend, netted a simple header from close range.

Villarreal should have added to their advantage before the break, but Escudero and Rossi missed decent opportunities from inside the area but could not find the target.

It was only a matter of time, however, before Ernesto Valverde's outfit made their superiority count by adding a second goal, and once again it was Nilmar on target.

The €11m purchase has made a slow start to his career at El Madrigal, but he went some way to repaying his transfer fee by netting a wonderful header from the edge of the area after Diego Godin had played him in. He appears to be a player who has regained his confidence, and his goals could be key to his club making a push for the European positions come the end of the season.

Villarreal were enjoying the contest now, and on the hour mark Giuseppe Rossi put the game beyond the visitors with a neat left-footed strike into the corner following an assist from the impressive Escudero.

Valladolid rarely looked capable of mounting a challenge, and their porous defence was exposed on a regular basis, but they managed to make the scoreline more respectable as Diego Costa rammed home a drive to reduce the defecit.

But that was as good as it got for Jose Luis Mendilibar's men, while Ernesto Valverde cut a satisfied figure as his side now look to have turned the corner after their abysmal start to the campaign.

Paul Macdonald, Goal.com