Málaga miss chance to leapfrog Valencia

Málaga CF missed the opportunity to leapfrog Valencia CF and move third in the Spanish Liga after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by ten-man Real Sociedad de Fútbol and Unai Emery's side lost 4-0 at RCD Espanyol.

Manuel Pellegrini's charges fell to a dramatic late comeback at Villarreal CF in midweek, and again squandered a winning position against Real Sociedad. Isco, who scored in Málaga's 3-0 win against Real Racing Club last weekend, registered in the 19th minute and Sociedad had Mikel González dismissed on 44 minutes, but the hosts surrendered the lead four minutes after the interval to a Xabier Prieto strike.

The stalemate meant Málaga passed up a golden opportunity to climb above Valencia in the table, as Los Che slumped to a heavy 4-0 reverse at Espanyol, goals from Cristian Gómez, Joan Verdú, Álvaro Vázquez and Kalu Uche putting the visitors to the sword.

Elsewhere, 18th-placed Real Zaragoza closed the gap on Granada CF – and safety – by beating their rivals 1-0, while Villarreal drew 1-1 with Racing to move up to 16th. Real Betis Balompié defeated CA Osasuna 1-0, while the same scoreline brought three points to UEFA Europa League hopefuls Athletic Club and Club Atlético de Madrid in their respective matches against RCD Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid.