On-loan Arsenal star Vela helps rescue Sociedad

Posted Monday, December 05, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

On-loan Arsenal striker Carlos Vela hit a spectacular late goal as Real Sociedad scored twice in the last two minutes to snatch a 3-2 win over Malaga in La Liga on Sunday.

Malaga had led 2-1 when Mexican star Vela hit the target with an overhead kick in the 89th minute before Uruguayan John Ifran grabbed the winner in injury time.

The win moved Sociedad up to 12th position and eased mounting pressure on Sociedad's French coach Phillippe Montanier after a run of bad results.

Malaga would have gone joint-fourth had they won.

In an action-packed game, Sociedad were fortunate to take the lead on 10 minutes when Malaga defender Martin Dimechelis could not avoid bundling the ball into his own net after Imanol Agirretxe had crashed a header onto the crossbar.

Malaga then came back with goals from Jose Rondon on 19 minutes and Seba Fernandez on 58 minutes that seemed to have taken the points to the Costa del Sol before the game's dramatic conclusion.

Atletico Madrid's 40-million-euro ($53.6m) striker Falcao hit his eighth goal of the season as his side kept up their push for a European place with a 3-1 win over neighbours Rayo Vallecano.

Atletico moved up to seventh in La Liga on 19 points, while Rayo stay in 12th place.

Gabriel Fernandez opened the scoring with a clever chip on 35 minutes before second-half goals from Falcao, who signed from Porto in the summer, and Salvio sealed the win.

On Saturday, Real Madrid defeated Sporting Gijon 3-0 while Barcelona hammered Levante 5-0 as Spanish football's two superpowers warmed up for next weekend's El Clasico by preserving their grip on the title race.

Real stretched their winning run to 14 games in all competitions and lead Barcelona by three points, with the defending La Liga and European champions having played a game more.

Valencia stayed in third place, four points behind Barcelona, after Roberto Soldado came off the bench to notch the winner in a 2-1 home win over Espanyol.