Real Betis 1 - 0 Las Palmas: Real Betis take giant step towards safety as Ricky van Wolfswinkel opens account

Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored his first goal for Real Betis to give them a 1-0 win over 10-man Las Palmas that almost guarantees their place in the Primera Division next season.

The Norwich loanee produced a confident finish to slot home Dani Ceballos' low pass after 83 minutes to finish off a determined Las Palmas side who had to play the entire second half with 10 men following Aythami Artiles' sending-off.

Betis move on to 41 points with four games left to play, one point above Las Palmas, who lost for the first time in five games.

The first half witnessed few chances, although Betis thought they had taken the lead when top scorer Ruben Castro appeared at the near post to bury Foued Kadir's cross, but the effort was ruled offside.

Las Palmas had dominated possession but were dealt a huge setback when Artiles was shown a second yellow card in the 42nd minute for bringing down Castro around the centre circle.

Betis assumed possession of the ball for the remainder of the game and coach Juan Merino went all out for the win, bringing on attackers Van Wolfswinkel, Charly Musonda and Alvaro Cejudo.

After several squandered chances, the coach's gamble paid off, forgotten Dutch forward Van Wolfswinkel latching onto Ceballos' threaded pass and slamming the ball into the near corner.