Sunday 2 April 2017 22:41, UK
Atletico Madrid's fourth successive victory in La Liga took them up to third in the table on Saturday.
Koke's fourth goal of the season in the 26th minute set Atletico on their way to a 2-0 win away to Malaga.
Diego Simeone's visitors were unable to add to their first-half advantage at La Rosaleda until defender Filipe Luis popped up with his first goal of the campaign - completing a fine move by expertly lifting the ball over Carlos Kameni with his left foot in the 74th minute.
Malaga, who had plenty of chances but have gone six matches without a win, dropped below Deportivo La Coruna to 16th on goal difference.
Villarreal's hopes of finishing in the top four suffered a fresh blow as they slumped to a 3-2 defeat at home to Eibar.
The Yellow Submarine lost to Las Palmas in their last match before the international break, and then received another setback on Saturday.
Villarreal scored first and last at El Madrigal through Roberto Soriano in the 18th and 89th minutes, but Eibar netted three times in between to claim a victory that moves them to within four points of their opponents.
Pedro Leon's hotly-disputed 48th-minute penalty brought the Basque side level, before goals from Kike and Takashi Inui put the game beyond Villarreal's reach.
Athletic Bilbao remained three points above Eibar thanks to first-half goals from Aritz Aduriz and Inaki Williams in a 2-1 win away to bottom-of-the-table Osasuna.
Aduriz had Ernesto Valverde's visitors in front by the 12th minute, and it was 2-0 when Williams struck just before the break
Osasuna had chances to get back in the match, though, and Sergio Leon made Bilbao sweat when he narrowed the deficit in the 79th minute.
But there was to be no equaliser for a team who have won just once all season - back in October away to Eibar - and they are still rooted to the bottom with just 11 points from 29 matches.
Real Sociedad's 1-1 draw at home to struggling Leganes took them up to fifth, a point above Villarreal.
Eusebio Sacristan's hosts surprisingly found themselves a goal down when Alexander Szymanowski's persistence paid off to give Leganes the lead just before the half-hour.
Juanmi levelled up seven minutes after the break, but Sociedad could not find the winner on a rainy evening in San Sebastian against opponents still languishing down in 17th place.
