Soccer-Sevilla sneak past Las Palmas to stay in title race

BARCELONA, Feb 12 ( Reuters) - Sevilla returned to winning ways after a late strike from substitute Joaquin Correa earned them a 1-0 win over Las Palmas on Sunday and allowed them to stay in touch with La Liga pace setters Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Argentine midfielder broke the deadlock in the 80th minute just moments after coming on. He latched onto a long punt from goalkeeper Sergio Rico that was flicked on by Vicente Iborra.

The goal inflicted a first home league defeat of the season on Las Palmas, who had spurned a series of chances in an end-to-end second half, thwarted by a couple of outstanding saves from Rico.

Sevilla, who had failed to win on their previous two outings, are third in the standings with 46 points.

They trail second-placed Barcelona by two points and are three adrift of leaders Real Madrid, who have two games in hand.

Fifth-placed Atletico Madrid host Celta Vigo later on Sunday. (Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)