Ruben Castro's strike in the 65th minute was enough to fire Real Betis to a 1-0 win over Malaga in their La Liga showdown at the Estadio La Rosaleda.
The home side were the first to threaten when Charles found space to fire an effort at goal, but Antonio Adan made the stop.
Adnane Tighadouini managed to carve out space for a strike at goal for the hosts, but his effort went narrowly wide of the post.
Adan denied Malaga the lead when he made a smart stop to deny Juan Carlos after the midfielder had raided into the box and curled an effort towards the bottom corner.
Rafael van der Vaart almost gave Betis a half-time lead when he was allowed to run towards the edge of the box, but his strike went narrowly wide of the post.
The visitors took the lead in the second half when Castro was played through down the left by Francisco Varela and the forward held his composure to slot his effort past Carlos Kameni.
Charles tried to bring the home side level and he unleashed a strike towards the bottom corner, only to see his effort saved by Adan.
The hosts piled men forward in the dying minutes in an attempt to snatch a point, but Betis held out to secure the victory.
Betis's win moves them up to ninth in the table, while Malaga remain in 16th, but are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
Simon Sinclair
