Villarreal surrendered a lead for the second La Liga game in a row after drawing 1-1 with Malaga at Estadio La Rosaleda this evening.
A subdued start eventually subsided when Malaga's Nordin Amrabat had a shot from long range, which Sergio Asenjo parried away.
At the other end, Denis Cheryshev was presented with an opportunity when he got onto the end of Ikechukwu Uche's cross, but he could not keep his header down.
Uche then found himself through one-on-one after Bruno Soriano's dink over the top. Carlos Kameni, however, kept the ball out using his legs.
Villarreal went in front through Jonathan Dos Santos, who volleyed into the net with the last kick of the first half after the ball had looped up into the air.
There was controversy following the restart as Malaga had an equaliser chalked off. Sergi Darder put the ball into the net, but the referee eventually ruled that Amrabat was offside and interfering with play in the build-up.
Minutes later, they had the ball in the net again. This time it did count, as Amrabat lifted the ball over Asenjo from 20 yards.
Villarreal had a second goal disallowed before Marcos Angeleri's short headed back-pass nearly presented Uche with a chance, but the striker only ended up in a nasty collision with Kameni.
Benjamin Topliss
