Santa Cruz opened the scoring for Real Betis in their 3-1 win over struggling Villarreal. Betis eased past City’s Champions League group opponents to move 10 points clear of the drop zone and all but guarantee La Liga survival.
Despite scoring a valuable equaliser, Espanyol’s Weiss saw his side’s hopes of qualifying for Europe’s elite competition fade after a 2-2 home draw with Real Sociedad.
The Catalans have now been cut six points adrift of the Champions League qualification places, but it could have been worse had they not fought their way back from two goals down.
Weiss, added to the action in the 38th minute, took advantage of his side’s early second-half pressure to ensure his side came away with a point.
One point short of the top six, Europa League qualification would now seem a better bet for the Slovakian’s side
Back in the Premier League, Wayne Bridge’s Sunderland played out a stalemate with Emmanuel Adebayor’s Tottenham.
While Bridge remained on the bench throughout, Adebayor played 77 minutes for Harry Redknapp’s side but failed to score as the Black Cats extended their run to just one home defeat in nine under manager Martin O’Neill.
Alex Nimely’s Coventry surrendered the opportunity to move out of the Championship bottom three after suffering a late Peterborough equaliser.
Unable to score during his 77 minutes on the field, Nimley’s Coventry were leapfrogged by Ryan McGivern’s Bristol City, who beat Greg Cunningham’s Nottingham Forest 1-0.
Though McGivern didn’t appear for the Robins, Cunningham started and finished the game for Forest who, despite defeat, are now four points clear of the relegation zone.
In League One there was a fourth consecutive loss for Harry Bunn’s Oldham. Not only did the Latics succumb 1-0 to nine-man Charlton, but Bunn’s afternoon was cut short in the 43rd minute when he was replaced after team-mate Jean Mvoto saw red.
Paul Dickov’s side now sit just six points above the drop zone and will look to Bunn to start firing to ensure their survival.
