Villarreal suffer fourth consecutive defeat with naive display against Mallorca

Villarreal fell to a fourth consecutive defeat on Saturday when they lost to European rivals Mallorca.

The Yellows have been on a rotten run of late, and Quique Setién is likely to come under pressure as a result, even after the board failed to back him in the January transfer window.

Villarreal were behind after 20 minutes in the Balearics when Tino Kadawere took advantage of a big Pepe Reina error, and things got worse when Manu Trigueros was harshly sent off a minute or so later.

Jose Luis Morales took advantage of a Mallorca mistake at the back to equalise two minutes before half-time, but there was still time for Villarreal to shoot themselves in the foot before the break, with Dani Rodriguez putting the home side back ahead.

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Five minutes after half time, Samu Chukwueze produced a fine finish after an excellent move, but 10-man Villarreal could only stay level for six minutes, with Rodriguez adding his second.

With 10 men and level away from home, who knows why Setién didn’t decide to shut up shop there and then.

Instead, the Yellows went behind again, and there was no recovering when Vedat Muriqi doubled Mallorca’s lead in the 63rd minute.

Villarreal now drop to ninth place, two points off the top six - with Rayo Vallecano playing on Sunday - and seven off the top four, but again Atletico Madrid are still to play.