Malaga doubles up on Villarreal

Malaga, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Villarreal's Champions League ambitions have all but evaporated after the club suffered a 2-0 defeat at Malaga on Monday.

Roque Santa Cruz netted the first goal after only six minutes for the home side when he ran on to a through ball from Samuel and dispatched it inside the left post from a tight angle.

Villarreal managed to put just one shot on target in the match and offered little going forward, while Malaga added a second goal in the 53rd minute on the break with Nourredine Amrabat setting up Sergi Darder's first league goal of the season.

The result leaves the Yellow Submarine 10 points back of fourth-place Athletic Bilbao with four games to play, while Malaga is nearly safe with a nine-point gap separating itself from the bottom three.