Villarreal held by Oviedo in Liga but strengthen grip on third spot

Villarreal moved closer to securing third place in La Liga with a 1-1 draw at Real Oviedo on Thursday, while another defeat left Sevilla teetering on the brink of the relegation zone.

Nicolas Pepe’s first-half penalty looked to have been enough to send Villarreal seven points clear of Atletico Madrid, but Ilyas Chaira’s strike midway through the second period ensured the spoils were shared.

Despite the result, Villarreal moved to 62 points and boast a five-point cushion over fourth-placed Atletico, who are on a four-match losing streak in the league.

Real Oviedo, who were looking to make it three wins from three, remain bottom of La Liga, six points away from safety.

Former Arsenal winger Pepe won and converted a penalty on 13 minutes to put the visitors in front.

But Oviedo levelled in the 69th minute as Ilyas’ heavily-deflected effort left goalkeeper Arnau Tenas with no chance.

Ayoze Perez came within inches of winning it for Villarreal inside the final 10 minutes but his effort came off the bar and bounced to safety from the goal-line.

Earlier, seven-time Europa League and UEFA Cup winners Sevilla sank further into the relegation battle as they went down 2-0 at Levante.

Ivan Romero netted in the 38th minute to put the 19th-placed hosts in front, before adding a second late on to secure all three points for Levante.

Sevilla languish in 17th place, one point above Alaves in the final relegation spot.

Victory for Levante gave them hope of escaping the drop zone as they climbed to 32 points — two behind the Andalusians and safety.

Rayo Vallecano put some distance between themselves and the relegation dogfight courtesy of a 1-0 win at home to Espanyol.

Sergio Camello’s 87th-minute winner took Rayo to 38 points and 11th place, one spot ahead of the Catalans on goal difference.

On Friday, Real Madrid will look to close the gap, provisionally, to Liga leaders Barcelona when they visit Real Betis.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s charges sit nine points behind their arch-rivals and know a victory early in the weekend’s round of matches will amp up the pressure on Barcelona 24 hours after the news that star Blaugrana attacker Lamine Yamal will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.