Deportivo La Coruna 2 : 0 Racing de Santander - Deportivo on the rise

Deportivo La Coruna continued to pull away from the Primera Division drop zone thanks to a 2-0 victory over fellow strugglers Racing Santander.

Goals either side of half-time from Lassad and Xisco moved Depor above their opponents and five points clear of the bottom three with six games remaining.

The result brought an end to Racing's three-match unbeaten run as they slipped two places behind Depor in the standings.

The home side made a bright start at the Estadio Riazor with Andres Guardado turning a left-footed shot past the post after six minutes.

Racing's first chance arrived eight minutes later through Mehdi Lacen, who met a corner from Pedro Munitis but fired over the bar from 20 yards.

Manuel Pablo came close to scoring for Depor after 26 minutes with a header from Guardado's cross which just cleared the crossbar, and Ruben Perez brought a save from visiting goalkeeper Antonio Tono with his left-footed strike as the hosts enjoyed a spell of pressure.

Racing again responded and Depor goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia had to be at his best to tip away a powerful shot from Domingo Cisma four minutes before the interval.

But the breakthrough came on the stroke of half-time with Manuel Pablo putting a cross into the box which Lassad headed home.

Lassad then turned provider for Xisco to double the lead four minutes after the restart with another header.

Racing raised their game in search of a goal and an unmarked Giovani Dos Santos was wasteful in directing a right-footed shot wide of the mark.

Aranzubia made another brilliant save to block Julian Luque's close-range strike after 66 minutes, while Tono performed similar heroics at the other end 10 minutes later in tipping away Adrian Lopez's drive from distance.

The game was quickly slipping away from Racing and their disappointing afternoon was summed up when one final shot from Munitis flew over the crossbar.