Villarreal earned their first win of the new LaLiga season at the third attempt as first-half goals from Jaume Costa and Nicola Sansone steered them to a 2-0 victory over Malaga at La Rosaleda.
The Yellow Submarine - rocked by the pre-season exit of coach Marcelino - opened with draws against Granada and Sevilla but were deserved winners on Saturday evening. The winning margin would have been three if Carlos Kameni had not saved Bruno Soriano's penalty, which came in the 40th minute.
The visitors were well on top in the game and got the goal they were looking for after 32 minutes when Rafael Santos Borre's dribble drew the Malaga defence and when he found Costa, he had the time and space to score from close range.
Colombian forward Borre was then tripped in the box by Weligton after dispossessing the Brazilian and breaking clear on Kameni's goal. Bruno took the resulting penalty but Kameni was able to block it.
Weligton was only yellow-carded but if Malaga thought they had been given a lucky escape, the second goal for the visitors arrived two minutes before the break.
Sansone's first effort was blocked by Kameni but he could do nothing to prevent the Italian tucking away the rebound.
Keko produced a decent cross in the direction of Recio, but he somehow headed over in the 52nd minute.
Sergio Asenjo held on to a Charles header after an hour's play as Malaga tried to get a foothold in the match and the Brazilian forward then curled an effort wide after a great ball to him from playmaker Juanpi.
Keko had the home crowd on their feet with an effort which hit the side-netting while, at the other end, Roberto Soriano drew a save from Kameni when the better option might have been to pick out one of three team-mates in space, but in the end the win was a comfortable one for Fran Escriba's men.