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Villarreal fluffed a chance to keep pace with leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Barcelona when they needed a late penalty to salvage a scrappy 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijon in La Liga on Sunday.
Real and Barca won on Saturday to move up to 23 and 22 points respectively with nine matches played and Villarreal stay third on 20. Valencia, who were held 1-1 at home by bottom club Real Zaragoza on Saturday, are fourth on 17.
In-form Brazilian striker Nilmar almost put Villarreal ahead in the 13th minute at a rain-sodden Molinon, forcing a sharp save from Gijon goalkeeper Juan Pablo with a curled effort.
The home side went ahead in the 69th when the referee ruled Villarreal defender Gonzalo Rodriguez had handled in the area and awarded a penalty converted by Diego Castro.
Rodriguez was booked for the infraction and picked up a second yellow card and was dismissed after a needless block on David Barral in the 77th.
Villarreal pressed forward despite going down to 10 men and were awarded a penalty of their own in added time when midfielder Sebastian Eguren inexplicably hauled Carlos Marchena to the ground in the area.
Striker Giuseppe Rossi, who had missed a good chance for an equaliser a few minutes earlier, made no mistake from the spot.
In other matches on Sunday, Deportivo Coruna recorded their first win of the campaign in style when they beat visiting Espanyol 3-0, Racing Santander thumped Osasuna 4-1 and Malaga lost 2-1 at home to promoted Real Sociedad.
Atletico Madrid, who have 13 points, host Almeria later on Sunday (1800 GMT) and Getafe play at Athletic Bilbao in the late kickoff (2000).
(Reporting by Iain Rogers; Editing by Sonia Oxley; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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