Rodriguez off after hitting winner
 |  Rodriguez celebrates his winner but was sent off shortly afterwards |
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BARCELONA, Spain -- Modest Espanyol moved up to second in the Spanish Primera Liga with a controversial 2-1 home win over Racing Santander.
The tight win leaves Espanyol six points behind crosstown rivals Barcelona, who visit lowly Real Betis on Sunday.
Argentine Maxi Rodriguez converted a late penalty, controversially awarded, to settle the issue, but was sent off before the final whistle.
His seventh goal leaves him second in the scorers' list, two behind Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona.
"We didn't play really well tonight", conceded Espanyol coach Miguel Angel Lotina afterwards, "but the important thing is the result."
Osauna beat lowly Real Sociedad 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Uruguayan giant Richard Morales.
Up the road in Bilbao, two goals from former Spain striker Ismael Urzaiz gave Athletic a 2-1 win over Villarreal, whose Sebastian Battaglia was sent off.
Numancia came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1, with late goals from defenders Juan Osorio and Antonio Gonzalez.
Another lowly team scoring an important win were Getafe, who beat Malaga 1-0, Francisco Gallardo finding the target.
The only team not to win at home were troubled Valencia, held to a 0-0 draw by Zaragoza.
The reigning champions have now gone 10 games in all competitions without winning, and coach Claudio Ranieri's future is far from rosy.
Zaragoza were slightly better in a tedious match. Valencia captain Ruben Baraja had a late goal correctly disallowed for offside - a decision which could be the final nail in Ranieri's coffin.
