La Liga Roundup, Mar. 7

Substitute Ibrahima Balde scored an injury-time equalizer as 10-man Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 with Zaragoza and Jeronimo "Momo" Figueroa scored twice as Xerez beat Malaga 4-2 in a match in which both sides had players sent off on Sunday in the Spanish league.

Jiri Jarosik rose to head in Gabriel Fernandez's corner kick in the sixth minute for Zaragoza and Balde headed in a Jose Manuel Jurado cross in the dying seconds to level the score.

Jose Antonio Reyes was sent off 20 minutes from the end for retaliating after Eliseu had grabbed his shirt, one of many refereeing decisions that angered the visitors.

The result leaves Atletico 10th on 31 points and Zaragoza 17th on 25 points.

Also, Gaizka Toquero scored both goals in Athletic Bilbao's 2-0 win against Valladolid. Espanyol drew 0-0 with Villarreal, Mallorca beat Sporting Gijon 3-0 and Osasuna drew 0-0 with Getafe.

On Saturday, Real Madrid went top of the standings by beating Sevilla 3-2 with an injury-time goal as Barcelona was held to a 2-2 draw by Almeria.

Third-place Valencia plays Racing Santander on Monday.

Atletico has struggled for consistency this season and looked a different side to the one that beat Valencia 4-1 last weekend. Zaragoza was more dangerous throughout the game and Atletico goalkeeper David de Gea pushed an Eliseu shot over the bar after five minutes before stopping a well-struck effort by Fernandez.

Referee Teixeira Vitienes struggled to control the game at times as both sides made some questionable tackles and he awarded eight yellow cards as well as sending Reyes off.

Atletico's usually effective attack lacked spark and Jose Manuel Jurado came on for Diego Forlan on the hour. Balde came on in the 86th minute before equalizing seconds from the final whistle.

At Malaga's Rosaleda Stadium, Momo put the visitors ahead with a penalty after a foul by Ivan Gonzalez.

Malaga equalized just before halftime through Sergio "Duda" Barbosa and then took the lead in the 55th with a strike by Valmiro "Valdo" Lopez.

Two red cards followed, with Xerez's Emiliano Armenteros being dismissed on the hour for elbowing Ivan Gonzalez just 30 seconds after coming on as a substitute, while Malaga's Duda was sent off for a handball 11 minutes later.

Xerez proved to be the better side with 10 men, scoring three times to turn the match on its head.

Momo equalized in the 72nd minute before Leandro Gioda scored Xerez's third from a corner in the 76th. Fabian Orellana put further gloss on Xerez's first away victory of the season by scoring in injury time.

Despite the win, Xerez stays bottom of the league on 15 points and Malaga is 15th on 27 points.

In Bilbao's San Mames, Toquero headed in from a corner in the 26th minute and then controlled a through pass from Fernando Llorente before firing home in the 36th.

Minutes later, Markel Susaeta did well to control the ball with his chest and go round the goalkeeper but could only blast his shot over an open goal.

Llorente was a constant worry for the Valladolid defense in the air and forced a save from Justo Villar midway through the first half before having a goal disallowed for offside early in the second.

Bilbao is seventh on 40 points, Valladolid is 18th on 20 points.

At Espanyol's Cornella-El Prat Stadium, goalkeeper Carlos Kameni made a superb save to stop a free kick by Villarreal's Marcos Senna in the 28th. Just before halftime Joseba Llorente's shot beat Kameni and bounced just wide of the right-hand post as Villarreal continued to pressure.

Villarreal's Diego Lopez did well to save efforts by Pablo Osvaldo and Joan Verdu as neither team could break the deadlock.