Getafe down Villarreal to ease clear

Getafe struck a potentially vital blow in their bid to avoid relegation as they eased themselves five points clear of the La Liga relegation zone with an impressive 2-1 win at fellow strugglers Villarreal. Luis Garcia Plaza's men went into the game on a five-game winless run that had threatened to throw them into the middle of a dogfight, but goals from Diego Castro and Abdelaziz Barrada mean they now have some breathing space. Villarreal, highly fancied at the start of the season but still to recover from the loss of Giuseppe Rossi to injury, are three points above the bottom three, but should have taken more from this match. They did equalise through Nilmar's penalty, but, having already missed one through Borja Valero, the Yellow Submarine may well consider this to be a chance missed. With a three-game winless run of their own hanging over them, Jose Francisco Molina's side were always likely to start quickly and so it proved, with Cani working Miguel Moya from the edge of the box. Castro strikes first They were unable to get any momentum, though, and Los Azulones stunned them by taking a fifth-minute lead when Castro got on the end of Miku's pass and did the rest. Villarreal's response was to win a penalty 11 minutes later when Michel wiped out Jaume Costa, but Valero was unable to find the space either side of Moya, hitting his penalty at him. Nilmar then took aim and was foiled by the goalkeeper, but it took close to 30 minutes for the home side to fashion another chance, Marcos Senna hitting over from distance. They would level before the break, however, with Nilmar doing the trick from the spot after drawing a foul out of Daniel Diaz. Getafe keep going But, if the home fans thought the goal would inspire more in the second half they were wrong, as Getafe started impressively. Michel's header was saved by Diego Lopez, before the keeper was at his best again to deny Miku. Cani then missed a golden chance from six yards, and that proved to be crucial as Barrada ran on to Pedro Leon's pass to get the better of Lopez with 18 minutes remaining. Castro could have wrapped things up for Getafe had he shown more composure when free in the box, but it did not matter as his side held on for a valuable win.