Villarreal sink Levante, Sevilla take derby spoils

Fourth-placed Villarreal CF ended the weekend as they started it – seven points behind third-placed Real Madrid CF – after defeating Levante UD 3-0 on a day when Sevilla FC took the spoils in the Seville derby.

Levante were up against it early on after losing goalkeeper Keylor Navas to a tenth-minute red card for tripping Ikechukwu Uche in the area, and Bruno Soriano put away the resulting penalty. Hernán Peréz then struck the woodwork before the break for the visitors, whose lead was eventually doubled by Uche in the 74th minute. The forward got his second close to full time to end any suspense.

As for Sevilla, they jumped to eighth following a handsome victory against local rivals Real Betis Balompié. Carlos Bacca put the hosts ahead just two minutes in and Stéphane Mbia doubled the lead before the break, a minute after Paulão had received a second yellow for Betis. Víctor Machín and Vicente Iborra wrapped up the win after the restart to stretch bottom side Betis's winless run to seven in the league.

After four games without a triumph, RCD Espanyol picked up three points with a 4-1 success at ten-man Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, Sergio García claiming a hat-trick. Lastly, Cristian Herrera's 84th-minute strike sealed a 2-1 home success for Elche CF against Valencia CF which moved the hosts level on 17 points with the Blanquinegros.