Madrid: Manuel Pellegrini's coaching tenure at Malaga got off to a rocky start with a 1-0 defeat at Espanyol in the Spanish league on Saturday.
While Pellegrini — hired only on Thursday — was not on the sidelines, B-team coach Rafael Gil couldn't keep Malaga's winless streak from stretching to six league games when Javi Marquez scored 60 seconds into the match with a shot from nearly 35 meters (yard) out.
Espanyol improved to 5-0 this season at its Cornella-El Prat Stadium to move into fourth with 18 points. Malaga stayed 18th with seven points.
Earlier, Joseba Llorente scored in a third straight game as surging Real Sociedad beat Racing Santander 1-0.
Xabi Prieto weighted a perfectly lofted pass into the area for Llorente in the seventh minute and the Basque striker beat goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez.
Sociedad's third win in four games lifted it to 16 points. Santander stayed on 10 points.
Real Madrid leads with 23 points, Barcelona is second with 22 and Villarreal has 20.
Marquez's goal lifted Espanyol as striker Pablo Osvaldo had three good chances before Malaga began to assert itself.
Osvaldo slickly dribbled past two defenders before his quick flick was batted away by Francesc Arnau in the 21st minute. The Argentine striker shot just wide moments later before continuing to pepper Arnau's goal by forcing the Malaga 'keeper into another save in the 26th.
Carlos Kameni saved Eliseu's angled shot before the Portuguese winger missed a golden chance in the 43rd as he fired a cross-goal shot wide. Nabil Baha headed a clear chance wide to close the half.
Kameni punched out Antonio Galdeano's long shot in the 53rd as Malaga pressured with little resistance after the break but could do little as substitute Quincy Owusu-Abeyie blasted a long-range shot off the crossbar in the 85th.
Pellegrini will be on the sideline for Thursday's Copa del Rey match against Hercules.
At Anoeta Stadium, Antoine Griezmann nearly doubled the lead in the 18th as he beat Rodriguez with a looping ball that went over goal.
Sociedad 'keeper Claudio Bravo was alert to stop the shots of Ariel Nahuelpan and Papa Diop, while Rodriguez kept Santander in the contest by getting his hand out to stop Griezmann's shot after the French forward was played into the area on the hour mark.
Madrid looks to keep its unbeaten run in the Spanish capital derby against Atletico Madrid going — it hasn't lost since 1999 — on Sunday, when Barcelona faces Getafe.
In Sunday's other games, it's: Villarreal vs Athletic Bilbao, Zaragoza vs Mallorca, Almeria vs Sporting Gijon, Osasuna vs Hercules and Levante vs. Deportivo La Coruna.
Sevilla plays Valencia on Monday.
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