Málaga boosted their prospects of UEFA Champions League qualification with a 3-0 victory over bottom club Racing Santander tonight.

Goals from Isco, Cazorla and Van Nistelrooy secured the win for Málaga, which lifts them above Valencia into third place in the table for the first time in their history.

Racing were always facing an uphill battle after defender Francis Pérez was sent off after just three minutes for a foul on José Salomon Rondon.

Cazorla missed the resulting spot-kick, but the visitors could only keep their hosts at bay until the 22nd minute when Isco gave Málaga the lead with a superb strike.

Málaga created numerous opportunities to increase their lead but had to wait until the 64th minute for Cazorla to make amends for his penalty miss and double their advantage.

The home side then added a third goal six minutes from time through veteran Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy, who came off the bench to head home and round off an historic victory.