Villarreal coast through with Apollon success

• Win puts Villarreal through to round of 32 as Group A runners-up
• Gerard Moreno rides his luck in the box to get Villarreal's opener
• Luciano Vietto fires in second on 40 minutes with Apollon buckling 
• Gaston Sangoy helps Apollon offer more resistance in the second half
• Round of 32 draw takes place in Nyon at 13.00CET on 15 December

Villarreal CF confirmed their passage into the UEFA Europa League round of 32 with a comfortable win at Apollon Limassol FC, but VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach's success against FC Zürich denied the Spanish side top spot in Group A.

Apollon lost 4-0 at Villarreal on matchday two, and quickly looked in danger of being overrun again. Isli Hidi was repeatedly called on to fend off Luciano Vietto shots, and Tomás Pina headed just wide with Ioan Andone's team on the ropes.

The only surprise was that it took until the 35th minute for the Yellow Submarine to go ahead, Gerard Moreno clipping the ball into the net after a series of deflections conspired to drop Vietto's ball at his feet. Vietto scored the second soon afterwards, converting from Jaume Costa's scuff across the box.

Already destined to finish bottom of the section, Apollon offered a little more resistance after the break, with Gaston Sangoy doing his best to tee up Marcos Gullón as the latter looked to give his old club something to remember him by.

The diving Sergio Asenjo was relieved to see Sangoy's free-kick fly just wide on 72 minutes, and was then lucky to grab the ball at the second attempt after a block from another Sangoy effort had bounced back to him off Apollon's Giorgos Merkis. Sangoy's cross-field ball allowed substitute Jan Rezek to give Asenjo another scare on 85 minutes, but there were to be no more nasty shocks for Villarreal.