Nigerian striker, Ikechukwu Uche, was in the right place at the right time when Villarreal needed him to apply the finishing touches, as they had the better of the game against Almería and sealed a deserved three points.
Moi Gomez created the most dazzling moments for Villarreal in the opening moments of the game, a thorn in the side of the Almería defence as he weaved his way through their lines on several occasions.
In the 23rd minute, it was Villarreal who opened the scoring, with Mario bursting forward to strike powerfully, but after that was blocked by Rubén in the Almería goal, Uche was there to apply the finish.
Villarreal were keen to extend their advantage and weren’t letting up with their pressure.
Giovani was denied by Rubén, then Uche broke through in the 32nd minute and whilst he had beaten of the Almería keeper, defender Mauro appeared with a perfectly timed intervention.
Almería were the stronger side in the closing minutes of the first-half, with Edgar forcing a good save from Asenjo, but Villarreal just about merited their lead at the interval.
Almería made their first change in the 57th minute, with Soriano a straight swap on for Thomas in midfield.
The visitors couldn’t make the most of a corner that quickly followed and the game became more of an uphill struggle for them when Villarreal scored their second goal in the 59th minute.
Uche with a poacher’s finish, after Rubén had repelled two efforts that came his way, but helpless to stop the Nigerian striker with the third attempt.
Almeria opted to shuffle their midfield in the 67th minute with a double change for Almería and his last options, sending on Corona and Teerasil, for Hemed and Azeez.
Villarreal looked more likely to add to their tally and after a one-two with Giovani, Cheryshev really should have done better with his finish, a fraction wide of the post.
The final 10 minutes saw lots of chances, first with Giovani firing just wide from a free-kick.
Then at the other end, Corona was unlucky after his well struck effort was no more than inches wide of the post for Almería, unable to gain them a consolation.
More chances for Villarreal then as Cheryshev and Giovani again came close before the final whistle, but the points were already safe and Marcelino’s men worthy of their victory.