Villarreal have thrashed Real Sociedad 5-1 to leapfrog them into fifth in the Primera Division table.

The hosts had the first good chance of the match after just nine minutes when Giovani dos Santos picked out Bruno inside the area, but the Villarreal skipper could not get enough elevation on his shot to beat Claudio Bravo.

They were ahead just seven minutes later, however, as Dos Santos broke the deadlock by turning Mario's low cross into the net from close range.

Dos Santos turned provider for the second goal just before the half-hour mark, feeding the ball to Ikechukwu Uche, who had the simple task of slotting it into the bottom corner.

The Mexican striker was back on the scoresheet himself just six minutes later, finding space in the box before slamming his second of the night into the top corner.

Dos Santos was involved yet again in the fourth, setting up Uche once more to slide the ball into the bottom corner 10 minutes after the restart.

It was 5-0 just before the hour mark as Dorado made his way down the right flank before finding Moises Gomez, who calmly placed his effort past a beleaguered Bravo.

Sociedad got a consolation goal just two minutes later when Inigo Martinez rose highest to nod a corner past Sergio Asenjo, but it was too little too late for the visitors.

They had a chance to score a second late on when Carlos Vela found Zurutuza inside the box, but the Spaniard was denied by a fine stop from Asenjo.