An incredible start to the game saw referee Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez point to the penalty spot inside 30 seconds, after Alberto Moleiro burst into the Celta box and was brought down by Yoel Lago. Gerard Moreno slotted the spot-kick into the bottom corner to give Villarreal a second-minute lead.
The visitors' response seemed to gather pace around the 10-minute mark as Borja Iglesias was at the heart of a goalmouth scramble at one corner before Pablo Duran volleyed another at another, but that was the extent of their attacking output.
The home side made it 2-0 just before the half-hour mark with just their second shot of the match. Alfonso Pedraza chased a long ball down the left wing and cut the ball back to the edge of the area, where Moreno let it run for Nicolas Pepe, who guided the ball first-time past Ionut Radu.
Os Celestes finally forced Arnau Tenas into action at the other end, but he did well to smother a chance for Sergio Carreira, and then he dived to keep out a cushioned Hugo Alvarez volley following a whipped cross from Oscar Mingueza just before half-time.
Given that only Barcelona and Real Madrid had picked up more away points than Vigo, and 15 of their 21 away goals had come after the break, this game was certainly still on.
Alvarez looked to prove just that early on but couldn’t hit the target from a promising position, before Radu kept his side in the contest with a great double save to deny Georges Mikautadze and Pape Gueye just before the hour mark.
Having come close to settling the tie, Gueye gave Claudio Giraldez’s side a route back in inside the last 20 minutes with a clumsy challenge on Iglesias inside the box. The striker took the penalty himself, and though it was kept out by Tenas, the referee awarded a retake for encroachment.
Iglesias gave the goalkeeper no chance at the second attempt, firing it into the top corner.
Celta then nearly completed the comeback with 10 minutes left when Ferran Jutgla headed an Iago Aspas cross against the post.
A nervy last few minutes would have been avoided for El Submarino Amarillo had Alfon not caught a volley too sweetly, thumping the ball straight into Radu’s clutches, but Marcelino’s side did enough to go 15 points clear of fifth place with five matches remaining.
Celta failed to return to the European places, leaving La Ceramica pointless for a fifth time in a row.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alfonso Pedraza (Villarreal)
Catch up on all the match stats here.
