Spain international striker Alvaro Negredo had a night to forget scoring an own-goal and being sent off for violent conduct as nine-man Sevilla crashed to a 2-1 defeat at lowly Real Zaragoza on Sunday to slip out of the top four.
Negredo, a club record summer signing, headed into his own net for what proved Zaragoza’s winning goal on 40 minutes and got a straight red on 81 minutes for kicking out at Matteo Contini.
It was a seventh league defeat of the season for Sevilla, who slip to fifth.
The latest Sevilla defeat will crank up the pressure on coach Manolo Jimenez, who set a top-three finish and title challenge as the pre-season target.
Sevilla must pick themselves up for Wednesday’s Kings Cup semi-final second leg at Getafe and they begin as favorites, holding a comfortable 2-0 lead from the first leg.
“It was a game to forget in every aspect from beginning to end,” Jimenez said. “If we want to be in three competitions [the league, Champions League and cup] we have to be competitive in all of them and not have other games at the back of our minds.”
Zaragoza move out of the bottom three after recording a second consecutive league win for the first time this season, with Valladolid slipping into the relegation zone.
Real Mallorca moved into fourth after an impressive 10th consecutive home win as they beat Villarreal 1-0 at the Ono Stadium on Sunday.
Mallorca’s Portuguese centerback Jose Nunes netted on 81 minutes to maintain Mallorca’s flawless home record as new Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido tasted a 1-0 defeat in his first match in charge.
Mallorca move into the Champions League spots and have a perfect 30 points at home, conceding just three goals in the process.
“This was a test against a team that we have struggled against historically,” Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano said. “This was a big win for our aspirations to be high up in the table.”
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid and Racing Santander shared the spoils in a heated 1-1 draw and prepare to meet for the third time in a week on Thursday in the second leg of their Kings Cup semi-final.
Racing trail 4-0 from the first leg and hoped to avenge the cup loss in the league, but Atletico took a 24th-minute lead through Diego Forlan, before Atletico old boy Gonzalo Colsa equalized for Racing 12 minutes later.
Atletico stay down in 12th a point behind Racing, but still have a chance to rescue their season in the Kings Cup, although Forlan warned against complacency despite the 4-0 first-leg lead.
“We know we are 90 minutes away from the final,” Forlan said. “We got a good result [in the first leg], but we have to stay calm and try to get through.”
In other matches, Deportivo La Coruna fell two points behind Mallorca in sixth after a 0-0 draw at Malaga.
Almeira defeated Sporting Gijon 3-1, Osasuna beat Tenerife 1-0, while Athletic Bilbao closed to within two points of Depor with a 3-2 comeback win over Xerez thanks to a brace from Spain international Fernando Llorente.
Xerez prop up the table, as they have done for virtually the whole season, and are seven points from safety.
Spanish La Liga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Barcelona | 21 | 41 | 55 |
2 | Real Madrid | 21 | 35 | 50 |
3 | Valencia | 21 | 18 | 42 |
4 | Real Mallorca | 21 | 12 | 37 |
5 | Sevilla | 21 | 8 | 36 |
6 | Deportivo La Coruna | 21 | 2 | 35 |
7 | Athletic Bilbao | 21 | 0 | 33 |
8 | Getafe | 21 | 2 | 31 |
9 | Osasuna | 21 | 0 | 29 |
10 | Villarreal | 21 | 1 | 26 |
11 | Racing Santander | 21 | -4 | 25 |
12 | Atletico Madrid |
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