Villarreal's hopes of qualifying for the Europa League have taken a significant blow courtesy of a 2-0 defeat at the hands of 10-man Malaga this evening.

The hosts made a perfect start to the match by taking the lead within six minutes as Garcia Samuel held off a challenge before slipping a clever pass through to Roque Santa Cruz, who showed great composure to chip it over the keeper having been forced wide.

They almost doubled their advantage in the 25th minute as Nordin Amrabat danced his way past a number of challenges, only to drag his eventual shot just past the post.

Malaga had another decent opening shortly before the break as Vitorino Antunes latched on to a cross on the edge of the box, but his powerful strike flew wide.

Their second goal did eventually come eight minutes after the restart as Sergi Darder found himself in space inside the box to fire the ball home.

Villarreal's hopes of launching a comeback were given a boost in the 73rd minute when Amrabat was shown a straight red card by the referee, reducing the hosts to 10 men.

However, it was Malaga who came closest to scoring next as Marcos Angeleri worked space for himself to shoot inside the area before putting his strike just wide.

The visitors' best chance of the match came in the 86th minute as Oliver Torres rose highest in the area to connect with a cross, but he couldn't steer his header on target.

There were no more chances for either side in the closing stages as Malaga held out for a victory that lifts them up to 11th in the table and leaves Villarreal two points off sixth.