Cedric Bakambu got a brace as fourth-placed Villarreal stayed close behind mighty Real Madrid with a 2-0 home defeat of lowly Sporting Gijon in the Spanish league yesterday.
Bakambu gave the hosts the lead in the 26th minute following a clever move between veterans Bruno Soriano and Roberto Soldado, then added a second six minutes into the second half by turning in Soldado’s generous centre.
It was Villarreal’s sixth straight win,but it did not impress demanding coach Marcelino Garcia, who said: “The only thing I like about today’s game is the result.
“We were rather fortunate with the referee’s decisions, to be honest.  If we continue to play like this, I am sure we will drop down the table instead of going up.”
The win kept Villarreal just a point below third-placed Real Madrid, and eight above fifth-placed Celta Vigo.
Gijon are third last, with coach Abelardo under massive pressure to improve results.
“We were really unlucky today, everybody could see that,” Abelardo moaned.
“I really think a draw would have been a fairer result. We had a goal unfairly disallowed, and that was a very harsh blow for us,” the coach added.
Gary Neville’s winless streak in La Liga since taking charge of Valencia last month stretched to five games as Jonathas’s late double handed Real Sociedad a 2-0 win yestserday.
Neville’s men had shown promising signs in holding Real Madrid 2-2 last weekend and a 4-0 thrashing of Granada in the Copa del Rey in midweek, but have now gone two months without a league win to almost certainly end their hopes of reaching the Champions League next season.
Valencia ‘keeper Jaume Domenech had kept his side in the game for long spells after both sides has hit the woodwork early on.
However, he was at fault when he flapped at Carlos Martinez’s deflected cross and Jonathas bundled home from close range 12 minutes from time.
The same two players combined for the second four minutes later as the Brazilian this time thumped home the full-back’s cross with a bullet header into the bottom corner.
Defeat leaves Valencia down in 10th, now 16 points off the top four after Villarreal beat Sporting Gijon 2-0 earlier yesterday.