Two goals from striker David Villa helped Valencia on its way to a comfortable 4-1 win over local rivals Villarreal. Further strikes from Ever Banega and David Silva sealed the rout over a rival that had to play with 10 men for over an hour following the sending off of young defender Kiko.
Valencia opened the scoring through a Banega shot from outside of the visitors' area after just six minutes. The Argentinean took advantage of a good run from Villa and a layoff from Silva.
Villa made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after 27 minutes. Kiko made a mistake with a back pass and was adjudged to have brought Villa down in the area, although the contact was minimal and outside of the penalty area.
The young defender, who was making his first team debut for Villarreal, was sent off for his "offense" and Villa scored from the penalty spot.
Valencia never looked to be in danger against 10 men and Silva made it 3-0 in the second half before Nilmar pulled a goal back for Villarreal after a mix up in the Valencia defense.
Villa scored his second of the night in injury time and that goal means he has 14 goals this season - the same as Barcelona's Leo Messi.
Atletico Madrid's recovery continued with a 3-2 win at home to Sporting Gijon.
Diego Forlan opened the scoring after 12 minutes for the home side, but Deigo Castro leveled the scores from the penalty spot.
Pablo Assuncao netted from close range eight minutes after the break and Ibrahima's first goal in the top flight made the result safe before Luis Moran's late consolation goal for the visitors.
Mallorca moved into fourth place with a convincing 2-0 win over Deportivo la Coruna.
Mario Suarez opened the scoring with the second half just underway and Chori Castro made the points safe after beating Manuel Pablo to a long clearance and shooting into the bottom corner of the net.
Racing Santander came from a goal down to draw 1-1 at home to Valladolid. Pinillos put the visitors ahead with an unfortunate own goal, but Racing's exciting young striker Sergio Canales leveled the score after halftime with a piece of individual skill and a cool finish.
Almeria drew 1-1 at home to Tenerife. Juanlu scored an early goal for Tenerife, but Goitom scored an equalizer just after the hour.
Almeria could have gone on to win but for Piatti's stupid red card for kicking the ball away after the referee had given a free kick.
Tenerife would normally have been pleased with a draw, but Malaga's late win at home to Getafe saw the islanders drop into the relegation zone.
Baha scored the only goal of the game with five minutes remaining and the triumph takes Malaga up to fifth from bottom.
Finally the duel between Zaragoza and Xerez, the bottom two sides in the Primera Liga finished in a 0-0 draw, despite Xerez playing for most of the game with just 10 men after Victor Sanchez's harsh sending off.