Valencia held, Espanyol beat Villarreal
Former Valencia striker Aritz Aduriz denied his old team victory with a last-gasp equaliser at San Mames Stadium.
Aduriz pounced in the 90th minute to secure a share of the La Liga spoils after Valencia had been reduced to ten men. Nicolas Otamendi received a straight red card eight minutes earlier for a high challenge, and Valencia were unable to hold out in his absence.
Substitute Rodrigo De Paul had given the visitors a deserved lead 16 minutes into the second period, but even though they were unable to claim maximum points, a draw took them above Sevilla into fourth place in their pursuit of possible UEFA Champions League qualification.
Getafe bolstered their hopes of securing their Primera Division status for next season after moving ten points clear of the bottom three by edging to a 1-0 win at struggling Elche.
Fredy Hinestroza scored the only goal of the game with only five minutes remaining in a rare attack for Getafe, after the hosts had spurned a series of chances in the first half. Their lack of urgency came back to haunt them, however, and they remain just three points clear of the drop zone.
Espanyol extended Villarreal's winless streak to six games in all competitions as two goals from Felipe Caicedo handed the Catalans a 3-0 win at El Madrigal. Caicedo had a slice of fortune in opening the scoring as Javi Lopez's miscued header deflected off the Ecuadorian and he then he thumped home his second of the evening after the break at Sergio Asenjo's near post.
Asenjo had a night to forget as he also spilled Sergio Garcia's cross 11 minutes from time to allow Victor Sanchez to roll the ball into an empty net to complete Villarreal's misery.
This defeat leaves Villarreal still just five points ahead of Malaga in the final UEFA Europa League spot in sixth, whilst Espanyol moved up to ninth.