France forward Antoine Griezmann continued his recent goal-scoring form, bagging a double to rescue Atlético Madrid a point in a two-all draw at Málaga.
Griezmann pounced on a goalkeeping error to give the visitors an early lead but an own goal from Fernando Torres and a Samu García chip looked to have handed Málaga the victory, before Griezmann slammed in a late second.
Atlético took the lead after 25 minutes after a calamitous error from Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni. The stopper misjudged the flight of the ball as a long throw came in from the left and, having been unable to grasp the ball as it flew overhead, Griezmann lurked at the back post to scramble the ball over the line.
However, the lead lasted only twelve minutes as an underperforming Torres inadvertently put through his own goal. A corner from the left was played in with pace towards the near post, and Torres was on hand to attempt to nod the ball behind. Unfortunately for the former Liverpool and Chelsea man, he did not connect with his header and gained only a glancing touch on the ball, flicking it past Jan Oblak and into the back of the net.
Torres looked to make amends for his error in the second-half, firing a low half-volley straight at Kameni moments after seeing a header easily saved. It was the home side who dominated proceedings in the closing stages, though, with young winger Samu Castillejo proving a constant thorn in Diego Simeone's team's side from both flanks.
The hosts looked to have scored the winner with less than 20 minutes to go as Samu celebrated his signing of a new contract with the club with a goal. Collecting a deflected Nordin Amrabat through ball, the 24-year-old turned through a gap in the defence and lifted a clever right-footed finish over the goalkeeper which drifted over the line and into the very centre of the net.
But the goalscoring was not done as Griezmann proved his killer instinct in front of goal once again. The ball came in from the left once again where it was nodded down by Mexican target man Raúl Jiménez, and Atlético's top scorer was on hand again to lash a thunderous left-footed half volley past the goalkeeper.
Atlético were lucky to escape from La Rosaleda with a point having been put under considerable pressure in the second-half, and the result all but confirms their exit from the Spanish title race with seven league games still to play.
After Real Madrid's regulation win over Eibar, Atlético now trail their second-placed rivals by seven points. The Madrid derby is up next for Simeone's men as they welcome their neighbours to the Vicente Calderón in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Málaga, meanwhile, cemented their place in the top half with a well-earned point, as they opened up a six-point gap between themselves and Athletic Bilbao. However, they must still overcome a four-point deficit behind Villarreal if they are to secure a top-six finish, with the Yellow Submarine also enjoying the luxury of a game in hand.