Villarreal midfielder Manu Trigueros bundled in a late winner to give his side a 1-0 La Liga away win at relegation-threatened Celta Vigo in an otherwise lacklustre contest on Saturday.
Both teams struggled to hit top gear at the Balaidos stadium following the long break due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but substitute Trigueros' 91st minute strike sealed all three points and heaped more pressure on 17th-placed Celta.
Trigueros' effort took a deflection and looped into the net after Celta goalkeeper Ruben Blanco had denied substitute Carlos Bacca inside the penalty area and blocked Samuel Chukwueze's follow-up effort.
Colombian Bacca had narrowly failed to apply the finishing touch to a superb solo run into the box from the halfway line minutes earlier as the visitors pushed to break the deadlock.
Vicente Iborra had gone close to giving Villarreal the lead in the first half, but his shot from point blank range was saved by Blanco in the 17th minute.
Villarreal, who snapped a run of three straight defeats, climbed to eighth place with 41 points from 28 matches while Celta have 26 points and are in danger of slipping into the bottom three.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
