Spain round-up: Madrid on top

Second-half goals from Raúl González and Luis Figo helped Real Madrid CF to a 3-1 win over Real Sociedad which saw them extend their unbeaten run to five games and claim top spot in the Primera División on Saturday.

Alavés second
Madrid now lead the table on 31 points, one ahead of Deportivo Alavés and two clear of RC Deportivo La Coruña who both play on Sunday.

Fine counterattack
Russian international Dmitri Khokhlov put Sociedad ahead when he added the finishing touch to a well-crafted counterattack in the 39th minute of an open and entertaining encounter at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

Own goal
But the UEFA Champions League contenders levelled on the stroke of half-time when Norwegian defender Björn Torn Kvarme turned a harmless pass from Raúl  into his own net. The Madrid striker then took advantage of a quick throw-in from team-mate Fernando Morientes to get goalside of the Sociedad defence and slip the ball past goalkeeper Alberto. Figo wrapped it up with a 79th-minute penalty after Zinedine Zidane was brought down by Aitor López Rekarte.

Valencia fight back
Elsewhere, Valencia CF moved up to eighth in the table after fighting back from two goals down to beat RCD Espanyol at the Olimpico de Barcelona stadium. The home side took the lead through excellently-worked goals from Juan Francisco Palencia and Alex Fernández, but three goals in seven minutes saw Valencia turn the match on its head to seal their first away win of the season and their first victory at Espanyol in 12 years.

Two for Rufete
Francisco Rufete struck twice before setting up Romanian striker Adrian Ilie to hit a 66th-minute winner. Valencia defender Mauricio Pellegrino was sent off in injury time after being shown his second yellow card of the match.

Las Palmas held
In Saturday's final game, UD Las Palmas were held at home by Club Atlético Osasuna in a battle of two sides struggling at the wrong end of the table. Argentinian Mariano Armentano controlled an Iván Rosado pass with his knee and fired past goalkeeper Ignacio González. But a late loss of concentration saw 20-year-old Ruben hit an 87th minute equaliser to earn the Canary Islanders a draw.