Valencia vault into top spot

Confidence dented
Any confidence Mallorca would have garnered from their 2-0 midweek defeat of RC Deportivo La Coruña was undone inside the first minute when Fernando Niño was sent off for bringing down Oliveira in the box. Jorge López duly stepped up to stroke the visitors into the lead.

Oliveira form
Things went from bad to worse for Luis Aragonés's men when Oliveira doubled the advantage five minutes later, latching on to a visionary pass from Pablo Aimar and slotting past Leonardo Franco.

Headed third
The former Santos FC forward practically wrapped up the points on the stroke of half-time with his second goal and completed his hat-trick by heading in a cross from Francisco Rufete. Xisco exacerbated the home side's woe by adding the fifth with two minutes to go.

Brief hegemony
The victory meant Real Madrid CF's spell at the summit following their 3-0 defeat of Athletic Club Bilbao on Saturday was shortlived. Ronaldo put his team ahead towards the end of a closely contested first half, with a powerful shot in the 35th minute.

True class
His second was more spectacular as he collected the ball 30 metres from the Athletic goal and powered forward, hitting the target with an angled left-foot drive. Ronaldo also had a hand in the third with 20 minutes remaining, setting up Luís Figo to tap in. Madrid face FK Partizan in the UEFA Champions League this week.

Depor stumble
Deportivo - opponents of AS Monaco FC in Europe on Wednesday - surrendered the leadership after being held to a scoreless draw away by Real Murcia CF, whose defensive prowess belies their position second from bottom in the standings.

Celta falter
RC Celta de Vigo, another of the division's Champions League participants, continue to disappoint domestically, slumping to their fourth defeat of the season at home to a well-organised and effective Real Racing Club Santander, for whom Israeli international Yossi Benayoun volleyed in the only goal late on.

Real edge
Real Sociedad de Fútbol - who meet Juventus FC this week - fought out a 3-3 home draw with UEFA Cup participants FC Barcelona. The Catalan visitors went ahead through Thiago Motta in the first half but two goals inside five minutes from Igor Jauregi and Francisco De Pedro gave the Basque team the advantage. Dutch winger Marc Overmars restored parity before Valeri Karpin edged Real back into the lead. Gabri García equalised for Barça.

Comfortable wins
Real Zaragoza defeated RCD Espanyol 2-0 away from home with goals from Martin Galletti and Álvaro Luiz while Málaga CF overcame Sevilla FC by the same scoreline. Sergio Duda and Salva were both on target in the first half.

Towering Torres
Sevilla's Andalusian rivals Real Betis Balompié were beaten 2-1 by Club Atlético Madrid, whose two goals came from the in-form Fernando Torres after the home team had struck first through Marcos Assuncão. Real Valladolid were 2-0 victors against Albacete Balompié thanks to efforts from Ariza Makakula and Roberto Losada. Finally, an Antonio Guayre strike gave Villarreal CF a 1-0 win against Osasuna CF.