Sevilla moved joint top of La Liga with Barcelona as two late goals from Denis Suarez and Carlos Bacca gave them a 2-1 win over Villarreal on Sunday.
Champions Atletico Madrid also moved to within two points of the leaders after Mario Mandzukic’s first-half goal gave them a 1-0 victory at 10-man Getafe.
Villarreal seemed set to take the three points when substitute Luciano Vietto clipped home Cani’s pass 11 minutes from time.
However, Suarez slotted home a loose ball inside the area two minutes from time and Bacca converted from the penalty spot deep into stoppage-time to seal the win.
Victories for Sevilla and Atletico leave the top five separated by just two points.
Villarreal enjoyed the better of the play in the first period at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan, but it was Sevilla who came closest to breaking the deadlock when Gerard Deulofeu’s corner hit the post.
Luciano Vietto took the chance to give Villarreal the lead as he raced onto Cani’s through-ball to lift it over the advancing Beto.
However, Villarreal could not withstand the late waves of Sevilla pressure as Suarez pounced to hook the ball into the corner after a scramble in the area.
Giovanni dos Santos then stupidly brought down Tremoulinas as he tried to run the ball out from inside his own area to allow Bacca to seal the three points with his seventh goal of the season.
Atletico made it three wins and three clean sheets in a week as they won a bad-tempered Madrid derby at Getafe.
The visitors were the better side in the opening 45 minutes, but were largely restricted to shots from distance as Vicente Guaita denied Antoine Griezmann and Raul Garcia.
However, they made the breakthrough in controversial style five minutes before halftime when Mandzukic turned the ball home from close range as his marker, Alexis Ruano, lay on the ground claiming to have been fouled by the Croatian.
The pair’s dispute continued into the second period and Alexis was dismissed for a punch on Mandzukic off the ball on 55 minutes.
Atletico failed to build on their numerical advantage and were grateful to see substitute Baba Diawara flash a shot just wide.
Earlier, Malaga moved up to seventh with a 4-0 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, while RCD Espanyol and Deportivo de la Coruna played out a 0-0 draw.
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