
Malaga remain rooted in the relegation zone after being held to their fifth successive draw against Real Valladolid.
Seeking a first win since their impressive 3-0 defeat of Atletico Madrid on the opening weekend of the campaign, second-bottom Malaga held a half-time advantage thanks to Sergio Duda's well-struck goal.
The Andalusians were unable to hold on, though, and 14th-placed Valladolid earned a share of the spoils when Malaga defender Jesus Gamez inadvertently headed into his own net midway through the second half.
The result keeps Malaga in 19th spot on nine points, three behind Real Zaragoza who last night decided to sack coach Marcelino Garcia Toral due to their poor start to the season.
Malaga boss Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz will also be feeling the heat, although his side at least appear to be moving in the right direction.
The conundrum facing Lopez Muniz now is how to turns draws into victories - of their last eight league and Copa del Rey matches, seven have ended all square.
It is not as if Malaga are struggling to create chances, and they probably should have been out of sight at half-time at the Jose Zorrilla stadium today after dominating the first half.
They almost took the lead in freak circumstances in the seventh minute when Antonio Barragan's attempted clearance struck Fernando Fernandez on the chest before smashing against the crossbar with Justo Villar stranded.
Duda then beat Villar to a low cross but stabbed his shot wide of the near post as Malaga continued to create chances.
Duda enjoyed much more success with his next opportunity as he put Malaga ahead in the 34th minute.
A long ball out of defence looked to be aimed at Nabil Baha, but the ball cleared him before skidding into the path of Duda, who slammed a fine left-footed finish just inside the near post.
Victor Obinna should have increased Malaga's lead before the break, and he was left pounding the floor in frustration after twice firing wide having been put in behind the Valladolid defence.
Despite those misses, it was looking good for Malaga at half-time.
However, it had been looking even better for them in their last away match when they held a shock 2-0 lead against Sevilla, only to end up drawing 2-2.
And it was to prove a similar story this time as Valladolid battled their way back into the contest before equalising in the 69th minute.
Home striker Alberto Manucho will wonder how he failed to net in the 66th minute when his effort from the edge of the six-yard was somehow diverted over the crossbar by Gustavo Munua with the Malaga goalkeeper lying on the ground.
Valladolid levelled soon after, though, through Gamez's own goal.
Medunjanin Haris' inswinging corner from the left took a slight deflection off Nivaldo's head and Gamez, who was standing just behind the Valladolid man, could do little as the ball struck him on head before going in.
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