Home sweet home for Mallorca as they make it nine in a row

Real Mallorca moved up to fourth recording a ninth successive home win with a 2-0 win over rivals Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Julio Alvarez gave an early warning hitting the post for Mallorca on 12 minutes and the goal duly arrived a minute after the interval through Mario Suarez and Chori Castro added a second eight minutes later.

It capped a fine week for Mallorca who reached the quarter-finals of the Kings Cup in midweek with a win over Rayo Vallecano and now sit in the Champions League places after leapfrogging Deportivo, now two points behind in fifth, as they maintained their flawless home record.

In other matches, the bottom of the table six-pointer between Xerez and Real Zaragoza ended in a 0-0 draw that does little for either side.

Xerez’s interim manager Antonio Poyatos, taking charge after the sacking of Jose Angel Ziganda, could not inspire the troubled club who are nine points from safety.

Zaragoza stay second from bottom three points from safety with coach Jose Aurelio Gay yet to win any of his four league games in charge.

Malaga moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Getafe thanks to an 84th minute goal from Nabil Baha.

That result saw Tenerife replace Malaga in the final relegation place after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Almeria on Sunday.

Islanders Tenerife have yet to win on the road and this was only their second point away from home.

Elsewhere Racing Santander saw a three-match winning streak come to an end with a 1-1 draw against Valladolid.

Highly-rated teenager Sergio Canales, 18, scored his third goal in two games with a cool finish to equalise for Racing and keep himself in the spotlight with Spain national coach Vicente del Bosque admitting that Canales was not too young to be called up ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

Third-placed Valencia host Villarreal later on Sunday in an intriguing derby game between two sides that suffered cup heartache in midweek.

“They are special games in which anything can happen,” said Villarreal’s Diego Godin. “Getting knocked out of the cup was a real setback for everyone and we want to get it out of our system with a positive result against Valencia.”

Atletico Madrid experienced the other side of the cup overturning a 3-0 first leg deficit with a 5-1 win over Recreativo Huelva and hope to use that momentum in Sunday’s home match against Sporting Gijon.

“We have to be wary because it will be a different game that’s why we hope the crowd are behind us again because that is essential and we are very grateful for the cup support on Thursday,” said Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores.