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BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Villarreal was held to a 1-1 draw by last-place Malaga in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Marco Ruben put Villarreal ahead in the 36th mnute, tapping in a deflection of a shot by teammate Giuseppe Rossi. Malaga’s Sebastian Fernandez finished off a counterattack led by Jose Rondon to split the points in the 82nd.

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With the draw, Villarreal remained in fourth place, two points behind provincial rival Valencia.

Also, Javad Nekounam scored twice in Osasuna’s 4-0 win over Espanyol on coach Jose Luis Mendilibar’s debut.

The Iran Midfielder put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute, heading in a corner delivered by countryman Masoud Soleimani, and added the second from the penalty spot in the 55th after Espanyol’s Aldo Duscher had handled in the area.

Manuel “Lolo” Ortiz made it 3-0 in the 80th, and Fernando Soriano capped the victory in the 88th.

Osasuna moved out of the drop zone with the win, while sixth-place Espanyol has lost its last four games.

Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia scored in injury time to give his team a 1-1 draw at Almeria, and Racing Santander beat Getafe 1-0.

Almeria looked set to convert Pablo Piatti’s 49th-minute opener into three points, but Aranzubia charged forward to head home a corner right on the final whistle in the 95th.

In Madrid, Pablo Pinillos scored the 88th-minute winner for Racing Santander from the penalty spot after Getafe defender Ivan Marcano was sent off for pulling down Giovani Dos Santos with only the keeper to beat.

Later, Barcelona looks to extend its lead over Real Madrid to five points with the visit of Athletic Bilbao to Camp Nou stadium, while Sevilla tries for its first win in four weeks as its hosts Hercules.

Agences de presses

Labels: draws, Malaga, Spain, Villarreal

Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik is not downtrodden by the 0-0 draw with Villarreal in the first-leg of their Europa League tie and believes qualification to the last 16 is still up for grabs.

The 23-year-old came on a substitute in the scoreless stalemate at the Stadio San Paolo on Thursday evening, as the Yellow Submarine took a fairly cautious approach.

"Villarreal defended very well, it was difficult to create chances," admitted the Slovakian international to CalcioNapoli24.it.

"I entered the match in progress, but there were no spaces to exploit. That tied us down a bit, but qualification [to the next round] is still open."

The second-leg takes place on February 24 at El Madrigal. Prior to that, Napoli will face Catania in Serie A action on Sunday night.

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Agences de presses

Labels: clash, Europa, Goalcom, Hamsik, league, Marek, Napoli, Qualify, still, Villarreal