Ambitious Malaga falls to lowly Granada

LA LIGA FIXTURES

 

Saturday, March 3
Getafe	1-3	Malaga	Recap
Vallecano	4-2	Santander	Recap
Mallorca	1-1	Osasuna	Recap
Barcelona	3-1	Gijon	Recap
Sevilla	1-1	Atletico	Recap
Sunday, March 4
Zaragoza	2-1	Villarreal	Recap
Bilbao	2-0	Sociedad	Recap
Granada	0-1	Valencia	Recap
Real Madrid	5-0	Espanyol	Recap
Monday, March 5
Levante	3-1	Real Betis	Recap
More: La Liga| Standings|Stats

Inigo Lopez struck nine minutes from time to give Granada a victory that lifted them out of the Primera Division relegation zone and hurt Malaga's bid for European football.

Lopez followed up on the rebound to snatch the winner after Malaga's Jose Salomon Rondon had cancelled out the opener from Jude Ighalo.

Malaga finished the match with 10 men as Martin Demichelis was dismissed seven minutes from time for fouling Franco Jara.

Granada moved up from 18th to 14th place in the table, three points clear of the drop zone.

Malaga, knowing a win could lift them to sixth, began brightly with Nacho Monreal sending a shot just over a minute into the game.

Rondon had a shot tipped around the post by Julio Cesar, who then had to parry an effort from Santi Cazorla has they continued to push.

Demichelis was the next to go close, meeting Cazorla's corner with a header that Cesar pushed over for another corner, from which Diego Buonanotte's shot was held by the goalkeeper.

The hosts did not have a decent sight of goal until the 36th minute, when Willy Caballero saved Carlos Martins' long-range effort.

But Granada looked better in the second half, with Martins going much closer with another shot that Caballero did well to push aside for a corner, before Martins won a free-kick in a good position, only to send it straight into the wall.

They got the breakthrough in the 57th minute when Daniel Benitez crossed for Ighalo to head home from close range.

Malaga needed 10 minutes to respond, getting their equaliser through Rondon who turned home Monreal's cross.

Demichelis had another chance with a header from Sebastian Fernandez's free-kick, but could not get his effort on target and instead it was Granada who got back in front.

Guilherme Siqueira's shot was parried by Caballero but only as far as Lopez who rifled home the rebound.

To add insult to injury, Malaga then had Demichelis sent off for a crude challenge on Jara.