Malaga came from behind in a relegation thriller to beat nine-man Almeria 3-1 and give themselves a survival lifeline on Monday.
There was plenty of tension in the air ahead of this Andalusian derby between the bottom two sides in the table and it was Malaga, who had not won in seven games, who began the more nervous as passes went astray.
Almeria went ahead after just eight minutes, with Sofiane Feghouli slotting home from close range with the ball rebounding to him in the box. It took until the second half for Malaga to relax and show more composure in possession.
Substitute Enzo Maresca gave them a deserved equalizer and then both teams pushed forward for the all-important winner with a point serving for little.
Although Malaga dominated, Pablo Piatti was desperately unlucky when he saw a volley come back off the post.
Almeria’s Jose Ulloa was dismissed for a second yellow card and minutes later Jose Rondon headed Malaga into the lead.
Fortune again eluded Almeria as Albert Crusat saw a shot come back off the post and the visitor’s night went from bad to worse with the sending off of Antonio Luna followed by Malaga scoring a third through Juanmi Callejon in stoppage time.
At the other end of the table Barcelona extended their lead at the top of the table to seven points on Saturday after they beat Mallorca 3-0 but Real Madrid could only draw a blank 0-0 away to Deportivo la Coruna.
Without Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes and Dani Alves, Barga fielded a makeshift side, but following a slow start, they found their rhythm after Leo Messi headed them in front and then they never looked back.
Real traveled to Galicia in a confident mood after three consecutive wins, but from the start it was evident that they faced a tough task with Deportivo defending deeply.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
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Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with