Ten-man Malaga beat Sevilla 2-1 on Sunday night in a fiery Andalusian derby to leap above their local rivals into seventh position in La Liga, one point behind a potential place in next season's Europa League.
The Brazilian centre-half Weligton and Uruguayan midfielder Seba Fernandez got first-half goals for Malaga either side of an Antonio Luna strike for Sevilla.
Malaga lost Francisco Alarcon 'Isco' with 12 minutes remaining for a second yellow card after a bad foul on Alvaro Negredo but held out for the win that brought to an end a run of three consecutive league defeats.
Sevilla are now six league games without a win and drop into the bottom half of the league for the first time this season.
Earlier, Valencia substitute Aritz Aduriz came of the bench to score twice and help his side earn a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Racing Santander.
Santander went ahead in the second minute when Adrian Gonzalez turned home a delightful pass from Pedro Munitis from close range and the home team controlled the first half.
Valencia came into the game more in the second period and Aduriz netted on 66 and 79 minutes with a left-footed shot and a header that gave his side the lead.
However, in a match marred by injuries and cards, Bernardo Espinosa grabbed a leveller for Santander with a header on 88 minutes to set up a grandstand finish.
With seven minutes of injury time, the game descended into chaos as players from both teams clashed and Munitis for Santander and Valencia's Ricardo Costa both received their marching orders.
The late equaliser keeps Santander just out of the relegation zone in 17th position, a point ahead of third-bottom Villarreal.
Valencia remain in third position and extend the gap to five points over city rivals Levante, who earlier missed a golden opportunity to bolster fourth position when they lost 2-1 at home to Getafe.
Dani Guiza, with a fortunate deflection, and Ruben Castro scored in each half for the visitors before Ruben Suarez got a kate consolation from the penalty spot.
The result means Levante remain fourth but are now level on points with Espanyol and two points ahead of Athletic Bilbao in sixth, after both teams won on Saturday.
Real Sociedad beat Sporting Gijon 5-1 in a game that opened in amazing fashion for midfielder David Zurutuza, who scored two goals in three minutes for the home team before being stretchered off in the fourth minute after a clash of heads with Gijon's Gregory Arnolin, who also had to leave the field.
Miguel De las Cuevas got a goal early in the second half for Sporting before late goals from Gorka Elustondo, Mikel Aranburu and Antoine Griezmann wrapped the game up for the home team.
The defeat means Sporting remain in the drop zone.
Real Betis were beaten 2-1 at home by Granada, for whom Odion Ighalo and Carlos Martins bagged first-half goals, while Jonathan Pereira scored a late goal for Betis.
The result provides renewed optimism for Granada, under new manager Abel Resino for the first time, and keeps the side out of the relegation zone.
On Saturday, Barcelona dropped precious points in a 0-0 draw at Villarreal to slip seven points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil had scored to help Real Madrid beat Real Zaragoza 3-1 and pile the pressure on Barca, who never convinced against a well-organised Villarreal.
Espanyol beat 10-man Real Mallorca with a Vladimir Weiss goal to remain fifth, level on points with Levante.
Meanwhile, Spain centre-forward Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick for Athletic Bilbao in a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano to keep the Basque side in sixth.
Source: AFP
