Frederic Kanoute scored his 12th goal of the season on Sunday to help Sevilla beat Recreativo Huelva 3-1 and move into first place in the Spanish league.
Sevilla moved a point clear of FC Barcelona, which lost to Internacional 1-0 at the Club World Cup final in Japan.
Real Madrid survived the 54th-minute ejection of defender Fabio Cannavaro to beat Espanyol 1-0 thanks to a goal by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Sevilla, which won its 800th game in the first division, leads the league with 34 points from 15 games, while FC Barcelona has 33 with a game in hand. Real Madrid is next with 32 points.
Also, it was: Real Sociedad 3, Gimnastic Tarragona 2; Levante 1, Celta Vigo 1; and Villarreal 1, Osasuna 4.
In Sunday's late game, Atletico Madrid edged neighboring Getafe 1-0 and moved into fourth place with 27 points.
Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano gave his team the lead with an 11th-minute penalty, awarded after Juan Merino was adjudged to have fouled Antonio Puerta.
Kanoute restored Sevilla's lead in the 35th minute by scoring from short range after Renato's header had bounced off the post.
Recreativo's Jesus Vazquez equalized in the 19th when he rose to head home Aitor Tornavaca's cross.
Right winger Jesus Navas sealed Sevilla's win in the 53rd with an angled shot from Daniel Alves' pass.
Sevilla was reduced to 10 men when defender Aitor Ocio marred his 100th league appearance by receiving his second yellow card in the 66th minute.
Madrid ended a run of two previous defeats on visits to the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
Van Nistelrooy swiveled and scored the winning goal in the 50th minute after receiving a pass from midfielder Guti.
Madrid was hit four minutes later by Cannavaro's second yellow card for a handball.
The Italian was infuriated by the referee's decision and gestured that the ball had hit his face rather than his hand.
Maniche provided Atletico's winner against Getafe, heading in Fernando Torres' cross in the 24th. The loss kept Getafe winless in five matches.
Sociedad midfielder Diego Rivas' 60th-minute goal against fellow strugglers Gimnastic brought the Basque team its first victory of the season which lifted it off the foot of the standings.
Gimnastic's Miguel Angel Llera scored in the 18th minute but teammate Mingo Pladevall equalized with an own-goal in the 48th.
The visitors regained the lead two minutes later through midfielder Ruben Castro but Sociedad leveled again through defender Juanito Gutierrez in the 55th.
Levante was left with only one victory in the last 11 games after a 1-1 draw with Celta.
Celta striker Fernando Baiano scored in the first minute for his eighth goal of the season, with defender Alvaro Maior, heading Levante's equalizer in the 52nd.
Osasuna continued its recent surge up the standings with a convincing win at Villarreal.
First-half headers by Achille Webo and Javad Nekounam combined with David Lopez's penalty and Juanfran Torres strike after halftime gave Osasuna its fourth straight victory.
Ruben "Cani" Gracia netted Villarreal's consolation goal in the 61st.
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