Atletico edges past Deportivo, closer to Barca

Atletico Madrid cut the gap behind Barcelona to nine points in La Liga after Kevin Gameiro's penalty sealed a 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday. Barca's 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday gave Atletico a rare chance to reduce the Catalans' lead at the top, which they took with a hard-fought victory at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Kevin Gameiro scores his first goal in 6⃣ games as Atlético edge Deportivo 1-0. Who will be the Liga side's danger man against Sporting CP in the #UEL? ? pic.twitter.com/IVH2R4wGY0

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 1, 2018

Gameiro made no mistake from the spot in the 34th minute after referee Daniel Trujillo adjudged Atletico's Saul had been pulled down by Pedro Mosquera. While Diego Simeone's men still require a Barcelona collapse with only eight games left, Deportivo are also in need of a miracle to avoid relegation. They remain 19th and eight points adrift of safety.

? ?| #ATMFLASH? Take a look at what @Simeone and Gabi had to say about #AtletiDépor#AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/gkwEvlZqgl

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) April 1, 2018

Elsewhere on Sunday, Valencia took one step closer to Champions League qualification after Spanish World Cup hopeful Rodrigo Moreno scored in a 1-0 win over Leganes. Their victory became even more valuable after Villarreal slipped to a 1-0 defeat by Malaga, giving Valencia a 15-point cushion in fourth place. Gonzalo Castro was the match-winner for Malaga, with a first-half penalty. Espanyol and Alaves played out a 0-0 draw while Eibar were also held to a stalemate by Real Sociedad.Results:Espanyol 0 Alaves 0Leganes 0 Valencia 1 (Rodri 62)Eibar 0 Real Sociedad 0Malaga 1 (Castro 37-pen) Villarreal 0Atletico Madrid 1 (Gameiro 34-pen) Deportivo La Coruna 0La Liga table after Sunday's matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Barcelona           30 23  7  0 76 15 76 Atletico Madrid     30 20  7  3 50 14 67 Real Madrid         30 19  6  5 76 33 63 Valencia            30 19  5  6 58 31 62 ---------------------------------------- Villarreal          30 14  5 11 40 34 47 ---------------------------------------- Sevilla             30 14  4 12 39 46 46 ---------------------------------------- Girona              30 12  8 10 44 43 44 Real Betis          29 13  4 12 49 53 43 Celta Vigo          30 11  7 12 46 43 40 Eibar               30 11  7 12 36 43 40 Getafe              29 10  9 10 35 27 39 Athletic Bilbao     30  8 12 10 30 34 36 Espanyol            30  8 12 10 26 37 36 Leganes             30 10  6 14 25 36 36 Real Sociedad       30  9  7 14 51 52 34 Alaves              30 10  2 18 26 45 32 Levante             30  5 13 12 26 44 28 ---------------------------------------- Las Palmas          30  5  6 19 21 61 21 Deportivo La Coruna 30  4  8 18 26 61 20 Malaga              30  4  5 21 17 45 17