The Argentinean forward notched the winner four minutes after the restart following a fine individual effort.

He gathered the ball in the halfway line and ran towards Malaga's area before skipping past the sole opposing defender to hit a low shot into the bottom corner.

Real remained second in the league table on 66 points, six adrift of Barcelona with nine matches left to play.

The Catalan giants maintained their advantage over Real by beating Real Valladolid 1-0 earlier on Sunday.