The encounter at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stadium was called off after visiting goalkeeper Armando Ribeiro was hit in the face by a bottle of water apparently thrown by a man from the stands behind the goal.

Armando, whose team were 2-1 up at the time of the incident, was walking back to take a goal-kick when he was struck and went down clutching his face.

He was then taken off and the game abandoned with around 20 minutes remaining.

Madrid saw their title hopes damaged following a 1-0 defeat to lowly Depor.

Following a dire first half with few goalscoring opportunities for either side, Pepe's own goal on 57 minutes gave Deportivo a shock lead and the visitors were unable to react at a stadium in which they have not won in the league in any of the last 17 seasons.

In Valencia, Luis Fabiano was again his side's goal hero as Sevilla moved into the Champions League places with a 2-1 win.

Recreativo Huelva gave their hopes of survival a massive boost with a 4-2 home win over 10-man Real Murcia.