Villarreal have moved back into fifth in the Primera Division table courtesy of a 2-1 win over Espanyol at Estadi Cornella-el Prat this evening.

The first opening of the match fell to the hosts when Christian Stuani linked up with Simao down the left before scuffing his shot and sending it trickling past the post.

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Villarreal's first real opening came in the 20th minute as Pina found himself in space outside the box, but his curling effort flashed just wide of the target.

Mathias Leiva then threatened for the visitors as he picked up Giovani dos Santos's pass before sending a shot narrowly past the upright.

Leiva was involved again in the opening goal of the match as he drilled a low ball into the box that Moises Gomez turned past Kiko Casilla from close range to break the deadlock.

It was almost 2-0 right on the stroke of half time as Jeremy Perbet took the ball past Casilla before rolling it towards an empty goal, but Hector Moreno got back to clear it off the line.

Perbet was not to be denied five minutes after the restart, however, as he converted from close range after Dos Santos's initial shot had been saved by Casilla.

The visitors continued to push for more goals and almost got one on the hour mark as Leiva found Dos Santos, only for the Mexican striker to put his shot high and wide.

Espanyol had a good chance to pull a goal back with just under 20 minutes remaining as Stuani latched on to Sergio Garcia's shot, but he diverted his header straight into the arms of Sergio Asenjo.

The hosts did get a goal five minutes later, however, as Jhon Cordoba fired an effort into the bottom corner having been found by Garcia's pass.

They should have grabbed an equaliser in the 83rd minute when Moreno picked up a loose ball inside the area, but he put his shot wide when he should have done better.

Espanyol were then handed a glorious chance to nick a point in stoppage time when they were awarded a penalty for a handball against Gabriel Paulista.

However, they couldn't make the most of that chance as Asenjo guessed the right way, diving to his right to deny Garcia a dramatic late equaliser and seal all three points for his side.