Messi scores late goal but Madrid tighten grip on title in La Liga

FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, right, celebrates after scoring with his teammate Luis Suarez during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Villarreal and Barcelona at the Ceramica stadium in Villarreal, Spain, Jan 8, 2017. [Photo/IC]

Atletico Madrid continued their recovery with a 2-0 win away to Eibar thanks to a solid defensive display coupled with second-half goals from Saul Niguez, which should have been ruled out for offside, and Antoine Griezmann's first league goal in 10 games.

Athletic Club missed a chance to close the gap on the top-four as they were held to a 0-0 draw by a hard-working and well-organized Alaves in a Basque derby in the San Mames stadium.

Celta Vigo however, enjoyed a convincing 3-1 win at home to Malaga to ruin Marcelo Romero's debut in the Malaga dugout following Juande Ramos' resignation before the holidays.

Celta played their typical flowing football and were rewarded after just seven minutes when Iago Aspes netted his 11th goal of the season. Daniel Wass doubled Celta's lead after 60 minutes and Andreu Fontas sealed the win in the 73rd minute before Wass blotted his copybook with an own goal five minutes from time.

Betis took a bit step towards safety with a 2-0 win at home to Leganes with second half goals from Ruben Castro and Matteo Piccini giving them a deserved victory after a dull first 45 minutes.

Nabil el Zhar's second half goal was enough to give an impressive Las Palmas all three points against a Sporting Gijon side which looks ill-equipped to avoid relegation.