Atletico Madrid missed the chance to close the gap on LaLiga leaders Barcelona after they were held to a goalless draw at Leganes.
Diego Simeone’s men were looking to produce a positive response following the disappointment of the dramatic stoppage-time home defeat by Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
However, Los Colchoneros were left frustrated in their search for a third successive LaLiga victory as Leganes produced a determined display to earn a share of the spoils.
Diego Simeone’s side failed to score at Leganes
Leganes went close in the first half when Claudio Beauvue’s shot was just wide, while at the other end goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar had to be alert to save from Madrid defender Stefan Savic.
Atletico, though, had goalkeeper Jan Oblak to thank for a brilliant save to deny Nabil El Zhar at point-blank range before Cuellar produced another fine stop from Diego Godin’s header during the closing stages.
Earlier in the afternoon, Sevilla had produced the required result as they moved to within two points of Barca, who host Las Palmas on Sunday, with a 2-0 win over Andalusian rivals Malaga at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Eduardo Berizzo’s side, who suffered their first defeat of the season last week when they went down 2-0 at Atletico Madrid, took the lead after 68 minutes through a penalty from Ever Banega.
Just two minutes later Colombia forward Luis Muriel broke clear down the right and held off three defenders before slotting home to seal the win, which leaves Malaga with just one point from seven games.
Alaves, meanwhile, climbed off the bottom and above Malaga as they ended a six-match losing run with a 2-0 win at Levante.
Munir El Haddadi put the visitors ahead after 33 minutes with a close-range finish at the far post after Alfonso had charged into the left side of the penalty area.
Alaves secured the points with nine minutes left when Alvaro Medran headed Ruben Duarte’s floated cross down into the bottom corner as Levante slumped to a second successive defeat.
In Saturday’s early kick-off, Lucas Perez scored his first goal since returning to Deportivo La Coruna to help the Galician side come from behind to beat Getafe 2-1 and ease the pressure on coach Pepe Mel.
Perez, who rejoined Depor on loan from Arsenal last month, was a prolific scorer in his previous spell at the Riazor and he was back on the scoresheet when he turned in the box to slot in a 66th-minute equaliser.
Amath Ndiaye had given Getafe the lead after 54 minutes, but it was Depor – who lost 4-1 to Espanyol last time out – who went on to claim only their second victory of the season when Florin Andone netted a close-range winner with just three minutes left.
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