Penalties from Lago Junior and Dani Rodríguez and a first La Liga goal for Take Kubo overcame an in-form Villarreal CF side 3-1 amid an afternoon of torrential rain.
Manolo Reina, Aleix Febas and Idrissu Baba returned to the starting XI following defeat in Valladolid, although it was Vicente Moreno’s decision to keep Kubo in the side that resulted in the game’s opener.
The Japanese winger’s quick feet coaxed Vicente Iborra into conceding a penalty in the 11th minute which Lago Junior never looked like missing.
A goal to the good, Kubo was then the catalyst to winning a successive spot kick, playing a quick one-two with Dani Rodríguez before the Spaniard crossed for Aleix Febas who was hauled down by the on-rushing Sergio Asenjo.
Despite protests from the visiting side delaying Rodríguez’s penalty, the midfielder calmly placed the ball in the same corner as Lago Junior to double our advantage in the 23rd minute.
A Santi Cazorla effort from outside the box and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s fumbled chance inside the area were the closest Villarreal CF came to pulling a goal back as we entered the break in the ascendancy.
Less than five minutes into the second half, Cazorla converted the afternoon’s third penalty after Antonio Raillo had been adjudged to have pulled down Gerard Moreno at a corner.
Kubo put fears of a potential comeback to bed on the 53rd minute with his first La Liga goal, cleverly creating space before Pau Torres deflected a low drive out of Asenjo’s reach and into the far corner.
The teenager’s strike took the sting out of Villarreal CF’s tail, and despite a gilt-edged chance for Lago Junior on the hour mark, proceedings fizzled out as we looked to preserve our lead with the introduction of debutant Josep Sene and Abdon Prats.
Much like the continuous onslaught of rain throughout the contest, our unbeaten run of form at Son Moix rolled on to four games with a deserved victory.
RCD Mallorca: Reina, Sastre, Valjent, Raíllo, Lumor (85’), Baba, Febas, Dani Rodríguez, Lago Junior, Kubo (66’), Budimir (82’)
Substitutes: Fabricio, Señé (66’), Xisco Campos (85’), Pedraza, Aridai, Abdón (82’), Chavarría
Villarreal CF: Asenjo, Mario Gaspar (81’), Pau Torres, Albiol, Peña, Iborra (46’), Anguissa, Moi Gómez (68’), Cazorla, Ekambi, Gerard Moreno
Substitutes: Andrés Fdez. Funes Mori, Bacca, Chukwueze (46’), Trigueros (81’), Quintillà, Ontiveros (68’).
Goals: Lago Junior 1-0 (13’), Dani Rodríguez 2-0 (23’), Santi Cazorla 2-1 (49’), Take Kubo 3-1 (53’)
