BARCELONA, Spain (AP): Villarreal beat Almeria 2-0 on Monday to strengthen its grip on third place in Spain and stay undefeated at home.
Midfielder Borja Valero set up Jose Manuel Catala's first-half opener and sealed the victory with a free kick after halftime.
The win is Villarreal's eighth in nine games at El Madrigal stadium and lifts the "Yellow Submarine" five points clear of fourth-place Valencia.
Also, Mallorca downed Hercules 3-0 for its first win in four weeks, Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 with Racing Santander and Zaragoza beat Real Sociedad 2-1 on a late goal by Braulio.
Later, Real Madrid visits Getafe in a Spanish capital derby looking to stay in touch with leader Barcelona, five points clear of its rivals after beating Levante 2-1 on Sunday.
Without striker Nilmar and midfielder Marcos Senna, Villarreal turned to Valero and Santiago Cazorla to guide the team.
Villarreal defender Catala scored the 22-minute opener when he headed in a free kick by Valero, who doubled Villarreal's advantage in the 58th with a perfectly placed free kick inside the right post of Diego Alves' goal.
Alves kept out late shots by Villarreal's Giuseppe Rossi and Cazorla to save his team from a rout.
Mallorca's win lifted it to within three points of the European positions and handed Hercules its first loss in three weeks.
Emilio Nsue pounced on the rebound from inside the six-yard box to grab the advantage for Michael Laudrup's squad in the 38th, and forward Victor Casadesus added the second thee minutes later when Pierre Webo set up his strike partner for a shot from inside the area.
Midfielder Michael Pereira capped the victory in the 51st, beating Hercules 'keeper Juan Calatayud with a left-footed blast.
At Vicente Calderon stadium, Atletico's attack was limited to a pair of individual efforts from Sergio Aguero, with striker Diego Forlan recovering from an ankle injury.
After a toothless first 45 minutes, Racing came out firing after halftime and striker Markus Rosenberg's right-footed shot went past the post at the beginning of the second half.
Atletico goalkeeper David de Gea made an excellent save with his leg from a shot by Rosenberg in the 80th, and Racing 'keeper Antonio Rodriguez denied Diego Costa in the dying moments to preserve the draw.
Zaragoza won for just the second time this season in coach Javier Aguirre's first victory in charge of the club.
Zaragoza striker Florent Sinama Pongolle beat Sociedad goalkeeper Claudio Bravo with a shot from inside the area to put his team ahead in the 10th, but Xabier Prieto scored his fifth goal of the season, firing in a pass for Joseba Llorente, to equalize for Real Sociedad in the 33rd.
Braulio scored the winner in the 90th to lift Zaragoza out of last place and into 18th.
Also on Sunday, Valencia moved three points clear of fifth-place Espanyol after downing the Barcelona club 2-1 on a late goal by Juanma Mata, Deportivo La Coruna defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1, Sevilla beat Osasuna 1-0, and Malaga rallied to a 2-1 victory over Sporting Gijon.
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