Primera Liga reports

Reports of Primera Liga soccer matches played on Sunday:

ALBACETE 1 REAL BETIS 0

Albacete continued their climb away from the relegation places with victory from a game they dominated. Antonio Pacheco got the only goal after 27 minutes when his volley squeezed past Betis keeper Toni Prats at the near post.

ATHLETIC BILBAO 1 VALLADOLID 4

Valladolid brought a five-match losing streak to an end with this outstanding win. Headers from Roberto Losada, Oscar and Jesus put the visitors three up in the first half and Bilbao hopes of a comeback were dashed when Ismael Urzaiz had a header ruled out for offside,

Losada grabbed his second with a shot into an empty net after 75 minutes and Julen Guerrero's reply was too little, too late for Bilbao.

ATLETICO MADRID 1 MURCIA 1

Nano struck with a free kick six minutes into injury time to grab a point for Atletico Madrid and send Murcia ever closer to the drop.

Luis Garcia had put Murcia ahead from the penalty spot after being brought down by Diego Simeone, just as he was shaping to shoot.

Atletico had Jorge sent off seven minutes from time but they salvaged something from the game when Fernando Torres went down on the edge of the box to give Nano his late chance.

BARCELONA 3 REAL MALLORCA 2

Barcelona survived a late scare to make it seven straight league wins and close to within a point of third-placed Deportivo Coruna.

Luis Garcia struck with a spectacular goal after three minutes, lashing in from 20 metres after Michael Reiziger's cross had been blocked, and Luis Enrique made it 2-0 in the 16th minute when stand-in keeper Miki dropped the ball on the edge of the box.

Garcia added his second on the rebound and Barcelona clinched victory despite goals from Samuel Eto'o in the 90th minute and Andrija Delibasic deep in injury time.

REAL ZARAGOZA 1 MALAGA 0

King's Cup finalists Zaragoza won for the third weekend in succession to move five points clear of the relegation places. David Villa got the only goal after 72 minutes, taking a pass from Yordi and beating Francesco Arnau with a neat strike. Duda had earlier been sent off for Malaga for a second booking just before halftime.

SEVILLA 2 VILLARREAL 0

Carlitos scored both the goals as Sevilla got back in contention for a place in Europe next season. Carlitos got his first after 57 minutes, converting a cross from Daniel Alves, and the stocky striker beat Fabrizio Coloccini and fired in the second in the 76th minute.

Played Saturday:

CELTA VIGO 1 ESPANYOL 5

Celta, who take on Arsenal in the Champions League next week, slipped further into domestic trouble with this humiliating defeat.

Raul Tamudo put Espanyol ahead with a back heel and shot from a tight angle after half an hour and Mustapha Hadji took advantage of a mistake from the keeper to make it 2-0 just before halftime.

A Tamudo penalty put the game beyond Celta's reach on 65 minutes and a Sergio own goal and a volley from defender Gregory Vignal made it 5-0. Edu's late strike was scant consolation for a Celta side sinking fast.

OSASUNA 1 REAL SOCIEDAD 1

Osasuna's hopes of a European place were hit when Real Sociedad came back to clinch a draw with a late strike from Darko Kovacevic. Pierre Webo had put the home side ahead on 15 minutes after playing a neat one-two with Moha.

RACING SANTANDER 1 REAL MADRID 1

Real had their lead cut to six points and lost Ronaldo for two weeks when the Brazilian was forced out with a thigh injury in the second half.

Santiago Solari had put Real ahead in an untidy game after being teed up by Zidane and Ronaldo in the 28th minute but Racing were level four minutes later when Yossi Benayoun swept in at the far post after Real had failed to clear a free kick.

Real centre back Alvaro Mejia was sent off for a second booking in injury time.

VALENCIA 3 DEPORTIVO CORUNA 0

Valencia revived their title hopes, and left Deportivo with little chance of challenging the top two, with victory from a game that was much closer than the scoreline suggests.

Ruben Baraja missed an early penalty for Valencia but Vicente took his chance from the spot in the 21st minute after Mauro Silva had brought down Mista on a run into the box.

Silva was sent off but Deportivo had plenty of chances to equalise before injury-time goals from Vicente and Juan Sanchez settled matters.