In a game always renowned for attacking football, Barcelona had a corner in the opening minute, which Villarreal cleared and then almost scored from, via a Nicolas Pepe header.
The visitors began to dominate possession, but it was the hosts who had two quick chances to take the lead through Ayoze Perez, thanks to mistakes from Gerard Martin and Pau Cubarsi.
A super tempo to the game gave it an end-to-end feel, and in the very next attack, Santi Comesana upended Raphinha for a penalty, from which the Brazilian made no mistake, sending Luiz Junior the wrong way.
Raphinha then saw his curling long-range effort cannon back off the crossbar, before Jules Kounde put the ball in his own net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Tajon Buchanan’s delicious volley only missed by inches, with the hosts in the ascendancy as the half progressed. Alejandro Balde’s dreadful back pass then let in Buchanan, but the Canadian was unable to finish.
Leading into half-time, Renato Veiga’s wild challenge on Lamine Yamal earned him a straight red card, making Villarreal’s assignment that much more difficult.
As might be expected, the Catalans began the second half much brighter, though didn’t really trouble Luiz Junior. They did, however, leave huge gaps at the back for Villarreal to exploit, as they pushed forward looking for a second goal.
Fermin Lopez fired a shot on target as the hour mark approached, with Lamine Yamal finally extending Barca’s advantage just after, following a chaotic goalmouth scramble.
The hosts had two appeals for a penalty waved away, whilst Joan Garcia’s incredible point-blank save from Sergi Cardona directly afterwards was worthy of earning all three points.
The keeper was equal to two more presentable chances from the hosts as the game approached the final stages, helping Barcelona to earn a result that extends a run of scoring in consecutive matches (38) - their best since 2013.
Villarreal, meanwhile, have now gone 17 home games without a win against Barca (D4, L13), and trail the Catalans by 11 points.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Joan Garcia (Barcelona)
