Villarreal 3 Atletico Madrid 0: Diego Simeone’s side now trail Real Madrid by 12 points as their title hopes are sent crashing
The Yellow Submarine deservedly got the three points as goals from Manu Trigueros, Jonathan dos Santos and Roberto Soriano clinch the win
ATLETICO MARDID'S title hopes seem like an impossible dream after they was outplayed and outclassed at the El Madrigal losing 3-0.
Villarreal never looked like they was in trouble throughout the match, and the game was put to bed in the first half thanks to goals from Manu Trigueros and Jonathan dos Santos, with Roberto Soriano wrapping the win up in second-half stoppage time.
There was only one team that turned up in the opening period, Diego Simeone will be left fuming at how sloppy his side were in possession and will be keen to eradicate indivual errors that proved costly.
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Villarreal almost took the lead in the 14th minute when Jonathan dos Santos' effort was cleared off the line by Stefan Savic after Jan Oblak's poor punch.
They didn't have to wait too long to go in front, as in the 28th minute, Manu Trigueros scored a fine goal, beautifully striking the ball low in the bottom left hand corner after capitalising on Tiago's short pass to Diego Godin.
Antoine Griezmann almost immediately scored the equaliser, but Sergio Asenjo saved brilliantly, diverting the Frenchman's shot out for a corner.
It went from bad to worse for Diego Simeone's men, as a mistake from Oblak failing to hold the ball from an Alexandre Pato cross, left dos Santos tapping in to get his name on the score-sheet in the 38th minute.
The Yellow Submarine had their backs up against the wall for the majority of the half, not letting Atletico get a glimpse of goal, with Bruno Soriano making a superb sliding block to prevent Griezmann's shot from going on target.
It's no surprise the Villareal defence was proving tricky to beat, they boast the league's most meanest defence, conceding just ten goals in 14 matches.
Then in the 93rd minute, Roberto Soriano wrapped up the three points as his bobbling shot trickled into the right-hand corner.
The win lifts Villarreal up to fourth spot in La Liga, one point above tonight's opponents.
For Atletico Madrid it's grim reading, they drop down into sixth and the result leaves them 12 points behind from leaders Real Madrid. They now have won just twice in their last six league games.