Brazilian Renato was the hero again as Sevilla followed up their Real Madrid scalp with a 1-0 home win over title rivals Villarreal on Sunday to go third in the table.
Renato had scored an 84th-minute winner as Sevilla overcame Real 4-3 last weekend and struck on the chime of halftime to secure a valuable three points as they move level with Valencia, eight points behind Barcelona.
Villarreal slip to fourth and trail Barcelona, who defeated Real 2-0 in El Clasico at the Camp Nou on Saturday, by nine points.
Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez stuck by the same system that defeated Real, with Ivica Dragutinovic the only personnel change as he replaced Fernando Navarro at full-back.
Luis Fabiano and Diego Capel, two of their biggest stars, started on the substitutes bench to their dismay.
Both sides had conceded three goals in their last matches against Real and Getafe respectively, so goals were expected, but it was scoreless with halftime close.
The referee was close to blowing up, only for Renato to score with Frederic Kanoute’s miscontrol of a high ball inadvertently setting up the Samba striker who looked borderline offside.
Villarreal had seen Jose Llorente sent off on eight minutes into the second half for a second booking.
Kanoute and substitute Fabiano wasted great chances to extend Sevilla’s lead, but in the end the single goal proved enough.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid leapfrogged city neighbors Real with a 2-0 home win over Real Betis on Sunday.
Argentine duo Maxi Rodriguez and Sergio “Kun” Aguero grabbed a goal apiece as Atletico moved up to fifth.
Elsewhere, Real Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano continues to feel the strain after his struggling team crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Getafe on Sunday and Recreativo Huelva moved level with Mallorca after defeating Osasuna 1-0.
Spanish La Liga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Barcelona | 15 | 37 | 38 |
2 | Valencia | 15 | 11 | 30 |
3 | Sevilla | 15 | 9 | 30 |
4 | Villarreal | 15 | 7 | 29 |
5 | Atletico Madrid | 15 | 14 | 27 |
6 | Real Madrid | 15 | 7 | 26 |
7 | Deportivo La Coruna | 15 | -1 | 24 |
8 | Valladolid | 15 | 2 | 23 |
9 | Getafe | 15 | 1 | 21 |
10 | Malaga | 15 | -2 | 21 |
11 | Real Betis | 15 | 0 | 18 |
12 | Sporting Gijon | 15 | -12 | 18 |
13 | Racing Santander | 15 | -4 | 17 |
14 | Athletic Bilbao | 15 | -5 | 16 |
15 | Almeria | 15 | -8 | 16 |
16 | Numancia | 15 | -13 | 14 |
17 | Espanyol | 15 | -10 | 13 |
18 | Mallorca | 15 | -12 | 13 |
19 | Recreativo Huelva | 15 | -12 | 13 |
20 | Osasuna | 15 | -9 | 9 |
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