Sergio Asenjo was the hero with two penalty saves for Villarreal who kept up their push for a European place with a 1-0 win at home.
They made a perfect start with Carlos Bacca crossing for Enes Unal to score from close range after three minutes but despite having plenty of the ball they were not able to build on their advantage.
Getafe gradually came more into the clash and won a penalty when Djene was brought down by Javi Fuego but Asensio guessed right and pushed away Angel Ridriguez's spot-kick.
At the start of the second half Getafe had another chance from the penalty spot when Jaume Costa brought down Jorge Molina and this time Asenjo denied a weak effort from 12 yards by Molina.
Villarreal now lie fifth with 41 points from 25 games while Getafe are in 10th on 33 points having played the same number of matches.