Villarreal still unbeaten

Villarreal continued their unbeaten start to the Primera Division season as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Espanyol.

Villarreal continued their unbeaten start to the Primera Division season as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Espanyol. Jeremy Perbet fired the hosts into a first-minute lead and Jonathan Pereira doubled that midway through the second half. Sergio Garcia grabbed one back for Espanyol but they could not find an equaliser as they slipped to their first defeat of the season. Villarreal took the lead in the very first minute as Ruben Cani found Perbet, who slotted home from six yards. Cani nearly doubled the lead within the first 10 minutes as he got on the end of Giovani dos Santos' free-kick but he could only fire wide from the edge of the box. Giovani then brought a save out of Francisco Casilla as the home side continued to press with Manuel Lanzarote's speculative effort all Espanyol could muster in reply. But the visitors had their first real chance in the 24th minute and Sidnei will have been disappointed not to beat Sergio Asenjo from 12 yards. Tomas Pina missed with a long-range shot but Giovani spurned a gilt-edged chance in the 41st minute as Casilla somehow blocked his shot from six yards. Casilla was a busy man and Mario Gaspar brought a fine save from him as the two teams approached the break. Espanyol had a chance to level eight minutes after the break but Victor Sanchez fired wide from Lanzarote's corner and it was Villarreal who doubled their lead with Cani the provider again. The 32-year-old found Pereira in the box and the substitute hammered home from close range. But with 10 minutes left Espanyol were back in it as Garcia scored after being set up by Abraham. However, they could find a winner as the Yellow Submarine held on.