After Atletico, third, beat Real Sociedad on Saturday, Marcelino Garcia Toral's Yellow Submarine, fourth, pulled level on 54 points.

Tajon Buchanan and Santiago Mourino's first-half goals were reward for a dominant performance by Villarreal, although Andre Silva pulled one back late on to make the hosts sweat.

"We relaxed a bit, until the 70th minute we were dominating the game, then we suffered until the end and that can't happen," Mourino told Movistar.

Villarreal had a host of chances in the first half but Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro made several good saves to keep Nicolas Pepe and Georges Mikautadze at bay.

Elche started the season superbly but are yet to win in 2026 or away from home across the campaign and have slumped to 17th, one point above the drop zone.

"I think with a bit more time we could have got level, we finished in the way we should have played the whole game," said Silva.

"After letting in the first goal the team dropped in morale and we can't do that."

Real Betis, fifth, fell further behind in the race for Champions League football with a 2-0 defeat at Getafe.

Manuel Pellegrini's side now trail Villarreal by 11 points with 11 matches remaining.

Kiko Femenia and Martin Satriano netted for Getafe in a good week for Jose Bordalas's side, who beat Real Madrid on Monday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Later Sevilla host Rayo Vallecano and Alaves visit Valencia.

On Saturday La Liga leaders Barcelona restored their four-point on Real Madrid at the top of the table with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.