Ikechukwu Uche struck twice to help Villarreal seal a 3-0 victory over 10-man Levante on Sunday.
Villareal maintained their fine form since gaining promotion to the Spanish first division against Levante. Uche quickly made his mark in the early kick-off match at the Cuitat de Valencia stadium when he was felled by Levante goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was shown a straight red card.
Despite the one-man advantage, the hosts squandered a host of chances before the Nigerian international scored in the 74th and 89th minutes.
Midfielder Bruno Soriano, who opened scoring for the ‘Yellow Submarines’ laid a through pass to Uche and he fired a clinical shot into the corner for Villarreal’s second.
Uche completed scoring a minute from time with a spectacular overhead kick. He has now scored six goals in 11 games.
Villarreal, who spent a season in the second division last term, now have 27 points from 14 games, seven behind Real Madrid in third after the Los Blancos thrashed Almeria 5-0 on Saturday.
In Belgium, former Nigeria youth international Michael Uchebo scored in Cercle Brugge’s 4-2 home loss to Lierse.
Uchebo leveled for Brugge in the 80th minute. He has now scored four goals in the league this term.
