Deportivo snaps winless run with Celta Vigo defeat

Madrid, Spain – Deportivo emerged from the Riazor victorious on Friday, snapping a nine-game winless run in La Liga action with a 3-1 defeat of 10-man Celta Vigo.

The Bianquiazules came into the match with just one win in the calendar year, but the last-place club inched closer to a spot outside of the relegation zone by cruising to a win over Celta Vigo at home.

Riki got Deportivo off the mark in just the ninth minute, grabbing his team- leading 10th league goal of the season.

Celta Vigo was dealt a major blow at the half-hour mark when Iago Aspas was sent off.

It took the home side some time to finally take advantage of the extra man, but it eventually came in the form of Silvio in the 64th minute and Diogo Salomao 14 minutes later.

Park Chu-Young pulled one back for the visitors 10 minutes from time, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal.

The bottom of the table remains unchanged with the result as Deportivo improves to 20 points on the season, three points shy of 19th-place Celta Vigo.

Mallorca has done well to aid its bid for another season in Spain's top flight. The club has won two straight league matches to move within two points of safety, but Los Bermellones will have their work cut out for themselves on Saturday when they face a red-hot Real Madrid side at the Bernabeu.

Following that tilt, Valencia will hope to jump ahead of Real Betis in the table with maximum points at the Mestalla. The two sides enter the match separated by a single point.

Real Sociedad sit one point clear of Real Betis as the race for the final Champions League qualification berth heats up. La Real will put its nine-game unbeaten run in league play on the line when it welcomes Valladolid to the Anoeta.

Rounding out Saturday's La Liga action, Getafe looks to extend its unbeaten run to five games with a positive result against an Athletic Bilbao side that has won two straight.

On Sunday, Barcelona hopes to maintain its lead atop the table with a win over Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou, Atletico Madrid will attempt to keep pace when it faces Osasuna at El Sadar, Malaga squares off with Espanyol at La Rosaleda, Sevilla takes on Real Zaragoza at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and Granada welcomes Levante to Los Carmenes.