Atletico Madrid 1-0 Malaga

Atletico Madrid have won five successive matches in all competitions

Angel Correa's second-half goal ensured Atletico Madrid beat Malaga to keep pace with their La Liga title rivals.

Correa's shot deflected in off Raul Albentosa as Atletico moved above Real Madrid - who had gone top briefly by beating Rayo Vallecano earlier.

Barcelona lead Atletico on head-to-head record after beating Sporting Gijon 6-0.

Atletico manager Diego Simeone was sent off at half-time after an incident in which an extra ball was thrown on to the pitch during a Malaga attack.

It was not clear if Simeone threw the ball himself, but he was held responsible by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz because it came from the home team's bench.

The Atletico manager - whose side are at home to Bayern Munich in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg - is likely to receive a domestic touchline ban for the incident.

His team made heavy work of beating Malaga, with leading scorer Antoine Griezmann steering wide a great first-half chance from eight yards as Fernando Torres had dummied Koke's cross from the left.

The visitors rarely threatened to score, although Atletico keeper Jan Oblak did well to beat away Duje Cop's early shot, and was extended again late in the game to push away a Recio effort from outside the penalty area.

Correa struck five minutes after coming on as a substitute, taking Filipe Luis's pass 20 yards from goal and working space for a right-foot shot that flicked in off Albentosa, who is on loan from Derby County.

Guillermo Ochoa, Malaga's Mexico international goalkeeper, denied Correa a second in the final minutes as Atletico secured a fourth successive league victory.