Primera Liga reports

Reports of Primera Liga matches played at the weekend.

Played on Sunday:

ALBACETE 1 MURCIA 0

Albacete's victory gave them renewed hope of avoiding relegation, while pushing their opponents closer to the drop.

Iban Cuadrado turned a cross-shot from Antonio Pacheco into his own net to give the home side the lead after eight minutes and that proved enough to see off a limited Murcia side, who had Ivan Hurtado sent off 10 minutes from time.

ATHLETIC BILBAO 1 REAL BETIS 1

Bilbao's failure to beat Betis left them five points behind Barcelona in the race for the fourth and final Champions League qualification slot.

Betis took the lead in the 53rd minute when Benjamin finished off a swift break, launched by Joaquin down the right, with a sweet shot from outside the box.

Bilbao equalised within five minutes with a well placed Santi Ezquerro header but their finishing let them down in the remainder of a game they dominated.

OSASUNA 1 REAL MALLORCA 1

The draw suited neither side, as Osasuna failed to get the win they needed to return to Europe and Mallorca stayed dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Andrija Delibasic got the first for Mallorca in the sixth minute, smashing in from outside the box with a left-foot volley, with Osasuna equalising when Patxi Punal pulled back for John Aloisi to steer in at the near post with 17 minutes gone.

RACING SANTANDER 1 VALLADOLID 0

Racing snatched the three points thanks to a classy goal from Rodolfo Bodipo in the 67th minute. Bodipo, a second-half substitute, controlled a long ball forward from defender Neru and beat Valladolid keeper Albano Bizarri with a perfectly placed shot.

REAL ZARAGOZA 4 VILLARREAL 1

Zaragoza climbed out of the relegation zone, and dealt a blow to Villarreal hopes of making next season's UEFA Cup, with their best performance of the season.

Leonardo Ponzio put the home side 1-0 up in the second minute and Cani turned in on the rebound for the second with 21 minutes gone.

Villarreal then had Quique Alvarez sent off for a second yellow card and Dani made it 3-0 six minutes before half-time with a close-range finish.

The numbers were evened up when Carlos Cuartero was red-carded after 63 minutes and Juan Roman Riquelme threatened a comeback with a penalty a minute later. Villarreal were exhausted, though, and David Villa blasted in for the fourth 10 minutes from time.

Played on Saturday:

ATLETICO MADRID 0 DEPORTIVO CORUNA 0

Deportivo had much the better of the game but had to settle for a draw that saw them slip six points behind leaders Real Madrid.

Albert Luque set up Diego Tristan for two clear chances in the second half and Walter Pandiani missed another excellent opportunity five minutes from time, when he failed to control the ball after a lucky break in the box.

CELTA VIGO 0 MALAGA 2

Celta Vigo's mini-revival under Radomir Antic came to an end with this morale-sapping defeat. Celta were in trouble from the 12th minute when Sergio was sent off for fouling Edgar in the area and Salva Ballesta scored the resulting penalty.

Malaga were able to control the game from then on and Diego Alonso clinched the win in injury-time.

ESPANYOL 2 REAL MADRID 4

Ronaldo struck with a controversial penalty and a second-half samba past the keeper to give Real a victory that took them five points clear at the top.

Ronaldo got the first after Raul had won a debatable decision in the area, but the referee soon helped restore parity by giving Espanyol an equally marginal spot kick that Raul Tamudo converted.

The visitors improved markedly after the break and wrapped up victory with a sweeping finish from Roberto Carlos, a Raul Bravo header and Ronaldo's dance around the keeper after taking a pass from Esteban Cambiasso. Alberto Lopo struck late for Espanyol.

SEVILLA 1 REAL SOCIEDAD 0

German Hornos struck with a header in the final minute for Sevilla to leave Real Sociedad stuck in the bottom half of the table as they prepare to return to Champions League action by hosting Olympique Lyon on Wednesday.

VALENCIA 0 BARCELONA 1

Barcelona racked up their fifth successive league win, and put a big dent in Valencia's title hopes, with this gritty performance.

Former Valencia midfielder Gerard came off the bench to head the only goal from a Xavi corner in the 78th minute. Valencia's Amedeo Carboni received his second yellow card a few minutes later and the home side rarely looked like getting an equaliser.