Radamel Falcao scored his 30th goal in all competitions this season to give Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano in Sunday's Spanish capital derby. Falcao made the breakthrough in the 64th minute when he latched onto Juanfran Torres' long pass, dribbled past goalkeeper David Cobeno as he rushed off his line and shot into the open net. The Colombia striker's tally of 22 league goals is the third highest in Spain this season. Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol also stayed in the hunt for a Europa League spot with home wins. The victories left Atletico, Bilbao and Espanyol level with Sevilla, which plays Getafe Monday. All are one point behind sixth-place Osasuna after its 1-0 loss at Real Betis. While Bilbao edged out Mallorca 1-0 thanks to Fernando Llorente's early goal, Espanyol thrashed third-place Valencia 4-0 at Cornella-El Prat stadium. At La Rosaleda stadium, Malaga looked set to reclaim third place but had to settle for a 1-1 home draw against 10-man Real Sociedad to sit one point behind Valencia with five weeks to play. Francisco “Isco” Alarcon grabbed Malaga the lead in the 19th with a shot that took a deflection off a defender to loop over diving goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Sociedad was reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half when defender Mikel Gonzalez received his second booking. Despite the disadvantage, Xabi Prieto fired home a poor clearance by Malaga's defense to equalize four minutes into the second half. Lautaro Acosta scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to salvage last-place Racing Santander a 1-1 draw at Villarreal, while Zaragoza beat the Granada 1-0 at home, following midfielder Tomislav Dujmovic's early strike. Muamba out of hospital Fabrice Muamba was discharged Monday from the hospital where the Bolton midfielder had been treated since collapsing from a cardiac arrest during a game less than a month ago. The former England under-21 international had been in the London Chest Hospital since collapsing on March 17. His heart stopped beating on its own for 78 minutes while doctors worked to resuscitate him and his prospects of survival were uncertain. But Muamba recovered remarkably quickly — leaving his bed just nine days after collapsing — and has now left the hospital. “I am naturally very pleased to be discharged from hospital and would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to every single member of staff at The London Chest Hospital who have played a part in my care,” Muamba said. “Their dedication, professionalism and expertise is simply amazing and I will forever be in their debt. I also wish to say thank you to all the many well-wishers who have sent thousands of messages of support. “Now I am out of hospital, I am looking forward to continuing my recovery and spending precious time with my family.”
