Primera Liga reports

Reports of Primera Liga matches played on Sunday:

ALBACETE 1 ESPANYOL 0

Albacete clinched their first win of the season despite playing the last 15 minutes with 10 men, following the sending-off of David Sanchez.

Pablo Redondo gave the home side the lead in the 65th minute with a well struck shot under the body of Espanyol keeper Carlos Kameni. Oscar Serrano should have equalised late on but he shot just wide with the keeper beaten.

BARCELONA 1 NUMANCIA 0

Barcelona needed a Henrik Larsson header 20 minutes from time to overcome a well organised Numancia side and replace Valencia at the top of the table.

Barca were poor in the first half but the introduction of Andres Iniesta gave them a burst of inspiration and after Larsson had headed in from Xavi's corner they might have added two or three more goals.

The main worry for coach Frank Rijkaard will be the loss of Brazilian midfielder Edmilson, who lasted only a couple of minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute as he went down with a knee injury.

GETAFE 3 ATHLETIC BILBAO 1

Sergio Pachon struck in the second minute and went on to claim a hat-trick to give Getafe their second league win since gaining promotion.

Joseba Etxeberria equalised seven minutes after the break when he finished off a counter-attack but Pachon took advantage of a mistake from Andoni Iraola to make it 2-1 and the striker headed in unmarked with 65 minutes gone to seal the win.

LEVANTE 2 REAL MALLORCA 0

Levante completed a simple victory over a Mallorca side who slipped to the bottom of the table after a fourth defeat of the season.

Vladimir Manchev tapped in for the opening goal in the 27th minute after Felix Ettien beat two players with a spinning run down the right and Sergio Garcia rounded the keeper for the second eight minutes later.

MALAGA 2 OSASUNA 0

Malaga continued their revival with a comfortable victory over disappointing Osasuna.

Marcio Amoroso took a long through ball from Leke and beat the goalkeeper with a first-time shot that went in off the post in the 24th minute and Paulo Wanchope beat the defence and keeper with a brilliant solo run to make it 2-0 just past the hour.

RACING SANTANDER 0 SEVILLA 0

Racing were booed off by home fans disappointed by a negative, if effective, display from their team. Sevilla were scarcely any better and had Pablo Alfaro sent off in injury time.

REAL MADRID 0 DEPORTIVO CORUNA 1

Real suffered their third league defeat of the season, and their second in succession, after being hit by a perfect counter-attack at the end of the first half.

Walter Pandiani sent a long ball forward for Albert Luque, who outpaced Michel Salgado and slipped a shot past Iker Casillas.

Deportivo concentrated on defending en masse and that tactic served them well, as Real piled in crosses in aimless fashion and saw shot after shot blocked in the penalty area.

VILLARREAL 2 REAL ZARAGOZA 0

Villarreal finally claimed their first win of the domestic season. Zaragoza defender Alvarao gave them the lead with a own-goal from Juan Roman Riquelme's corner four minutes before half-time and former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan scored his second goal of the season to make it 2-0 shortly after the re-start.

Played Saturday:

REAL BETIS 1 VALENCIA 1

Valencia suffered a minor domestic setback hot on the heels of their Champions League defeat by Werder Bremen in midweek, as they missed three clear chances to win the game late on.

The champions took the lead in the 10th minute when Marco Di Vaio shot low from the edge of the area but Betis equalised just past the half-hour mark when Edu converted a Ricardo Oliveira cross.

Di Vaio and fellow Italian Bernardo Corradi squandered the best chances late in a frustrating game for Claudio Ranieri's side, who will be disappointed at merely extending their unbeaten start to the season.

REAL SOCIEDAD 1 ATLETICO MADRID 0

Sociedad took the lead five minutes before the break with a Darko Kovacevic header from a Valery Karpin cross and managed to hold on for their first victory of the season.

Atletico looked short on inspiration for much of the game but they finished strongly and hit the post twice in the last five minutes through Jorge and Antonio Lopez.