Brief reports of Primera Liga matches played on Sunday:
ATHLETIC BILBAO 3 ALBACETE 1
Athletic Bilbao put their UEFA Cup exit and Wednesday night's defeat to Malaga behind them as they came from behind to beat a resilient Albacete.
Ruben Castro set alarms bells ringing for Athletic with a goal after only 12 minutes, but the home side were always dominant in possession.
Striker Santi Ezquerro volleyed home Joseba Etxebrrria's knock down just before the break, and
Jesus Lacruz arrived at the far post to put Athletic in front in the 71st minute.
Attacking midfielder Julen Guerrero made sure of the points with a curling free-kick in injury time.
DEPORTIVO CORUNA 1 MALAGA 0
Diego Tristan scored his eighth goal of the season from the penalty spot as Deportivo brought Malaga's four-game winning streak to a halt.
Malaga midfielder Duda felled Lionel Scaloni just before the break and Tristan hammered home from the spot.
Gustavo Munua pulled off a great save from a Duda free kick, in the second half, but Malaga's hopes of a point faded when
Cesar Navas was sent off with three minutes remaining.
ESPANYOL 2 LEVANTE 1
A spectacular goal from Maxi
Rodriguez fired Espanyol to a 2-1 win over Levante and into third place.
Sergio
Garcia put the visitors in front but Levante held the lead for just five minutes before Jose Emilio Amavisca pounced to level.
The winner in the second half came when
Rodriguez volleyed in from the edge of the area.
NUMANCIA 1 VILLARREAL 1
Villarreal slipped down to third as they failed to build on Juan Roman Riquelme's 12th goal of the season, scored midway through the first half.
La Liga's bottom club, who are now unbeaten in four, equalised early in the second half through striker Carlos Merino and came close to a winner when Luis Tevenet thumped a free kick against the crossbar.
REAL BETIS 2 GETAFE 2
Getafe goalkeeper Sergio Aragoneses had a day to forget as his errors prevented the capital club from registering their first away win of the season.
Captain Angel Vivar
Dorado put Getafe in front with a fine run and shot, but David Rivas levelled with a header when Aragoneses came for a Joaquin free kick and failed to collect.
A stunning 25-metre strike from defender
Mariano Pernia put Getafe in front again, but Aragoneses spilled Marcos Assuncao's free kick into his own goal soon after.
REAL MALLORCA 3 REAL SOCIEDAD 2
Relegation-threatened Mallorca came from behind twice to beat Real Sociedad.
Mikel Aranburu volleyed Sociedad into the lead after only seven minutes before Argentine Bernado Romeo made it 1-1 in the 14th.
Gari Uranga poached a second for Sociedad two minutes later after an error from goalkeeper Miguel Angel
Moya gifted the striker an open goal.
Luis
Garcia restored parity again in the 20th minute as he turned and fired low into the corner, and then Romeo scored the winner with his second soon after the restart.
REAL ZARAGOZA 1 RACING SANTANDER 0
Real Zaragoza ground out a win at the expense of Racing thanks to a debut goal from Manuel Capi.
Chances were few and far between until Capi fired the winner at the second attempt, after Racing keeper Dudu Aouate had blocked his first shot, in the 58th minute.
Racing, who had won two and drawn one of their last three games, remain four points clear of the drop zone.
Played on Saturday:
ATLETICO MADRID 3 SEVILLA 0
Atletico produced one of their best performances this season as they overwhelmed Sevilla with first half strikes from Salva Ballesta, Fernando
Torres and the outstanding
Antonio Lopez.
Salva opened the scoring with his first goal in over three months, a flying header, and
Torres notched his 14th of the season when he controlled the ball with his chest before slotting past former Atletico keeper Esteban.
Lopez capped a fine individual performance with a spectacular overhead effort just before the break. The only sour note icame when Salva was dismissed after picking up a second booking in the second half.
OSASUNA 0 BARCELONA 1
Barca claimed their first win in three outings when leading scorer
Samuel Eto'o notched his 18th goal of the season with a well taken strike five minutes before the break.
The African Player of the Year smashed a fierce first-time shot past keeper Juantxo Elia inside the far post after racing onto a magnificent through ball from Portugal midfielder Deco.
Osasuna, who had not won in nine games, laid siege to the Barca area in the closing minutes but were denied an equaliser by some superb last-ditch saves by Barca keeper Victor Valdes.
VALENCIA 1 REAL MADRID 1
Real came from behind to earn a draw against a revived Valencia thanks to a first goal in eight games from leading scorer
Ronaldo, but it was not enough to prevent them slipping eight points behind Barca at the top.
Valencia took a deserved lead in the 14th minute when Pablo Aimar let fly from the edge of the area after
Ruben Baraja had charged down the middle of the pitch.
But
Ronaldo levelled just before the half hour when he jinked past keeper Santiago Canizares and then defender Carlos Marchena after a through ball from
Guti.