Six standout stats from Villarreal 3-1 Real Sociedad to delight the groguets | OneFootball

Villarreal beat Real Sociedad 3-1 at La Cerámica to open matchday 29, climbing to third by a point over Atlético, who visit the Bernabéu on Sunday night. Their push for back-to-back Champions League qualification looks well set as the final 10 games begin.

Three goals arrived inside 23 minutes as Villarreal produced 21 efforts at Álex Remiro. Nicolas Pepe struck the post for almost 4-0 and the goalkeeper made seven saves, five from inside the box. El Periódico Mediterráneo notes the margin could have been wider on the counter.

There are 54 league goals after 29 matches, a club high at this stage, surpassing 52 under Marcelino last season and 50 in 2004/2005 with Manuel Pellegrini. Villarreal also sit on 58 points, an exact two per game and their best return at this point.

The benchmark is 77 from the 2007/2008 runners-up season. Nineteen are required with 27 available, so Villarreal are positioned to chase it.

Friday's win was Marcelino's 100th with Villarreal from 206 games. He owns 205 Primera victories, a 48.5% hit rate, just above Pellegrini's 92 in 190, 48.4%.

Gerard Moreno returned to the XI to open the scoring, taking him to 128 goals in 314 Villarreal games. He is one shy of 50 assists for the club and has 192 career club goals, including 13 for the B team.

With the score at 3-1, Dani Parejo came on in stoppage time to reach 550 top-flight matches, drawing level with Raúl González in the top five.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo