Lionel Messi scored for the sixth straight game to lead FC Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Messi scored in the 19th minute, three minutes after Deco had put Barcelona ahead when he took advantage of a goalkeeping error by Christian Abbiati. Xavi Hernandez added a third in injury time.
Barcelona are second with 17 points. Real Madrid stayed top of the standings with 19 points after beating Recreativo Huelva 2-0 with second-half goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and substitute Gonzalo Higuain.
PHOTO: AP
Villarreal stayed third with 15 points after losing to Osasuna 3-2. Valencia, who lost to Espanyol 2-1 on Saturday, also have 15 points.
Deportivo La Coruna handed Sevilla their fourth straight defeat with a 1-0 win.
In other games on Sunday, Mallorca rallied to beat Getafe 4-2, and Ricardo Oliveira scored twice to lead Zaragoza over Levante 3-0. Also, Almeria rallied for a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao, Murcia and Real Betis finished 0-0, and Racing Santander beat Valladolid 2-0.
Barcelona got their sixth straight win in all competitions.
Abbiati, replacing the injured Leo Franco, let Messi's weak pass slip out of his arms to gift Deco with an easy tap-in.
After working a give-and-go with Ronaldinho, Messi sent his low left-footed shot under Abbiati inside the far post to take his goal tally to eight from the past six matches.
Abbiati twice denied Thierry Henry in the second half before Xavi scored from substitute Giovani Dos Santos' pass.
At the Santiago Bernabeu, Van Nistelrooy ran on to Raul Gonzalez's short pass in the 73rd before putting it past Recreativo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino and inside the near post.
Higuain beat Sorrentino with an individual effort in injury time as Madrid stayed unbeaten.
Javi Garcia's long-range curler from 25m in the 80th won it for Osasuna.
Diego Godin's header in the 37th for Villarreal tied it up at 2-2 two minutes after Portuguese striker Dady chested in.
Former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi had opened with his fifth goal of the season in the 21st, sending a low shot from outside the area past goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez.
But Villarreal defender Javi Venta canceled out his teammate's effort a minute later, deflecting a pass from Juan Francisco Torres into his own goal.
At Sevilla, Ivan "Riki" Sanchez-Rico hit a 73rd-minute winner for Deportivo to keep Sevilla on six points. It is Sevilla's worst spell under coach Juande Ramos.
Juan Arango scored twice as Mallorca rallied from a two-goal second half deficit.
Arango equalized in the 71st before getting his second goal seven minutes later, with Ivan Ramis adding a fourth in injury time.
Ariel Ibagaza scored from the penalty spot in the 54th for Mallorca's first.
Francisco Sousa scored both goals for winless Getafe.
Oliveira scored in the 73rd and 80th, adding to Sergio Garcia's 60th-minute winner against Levante as Zaragoza improved to 11 points.
Felipe Melo headed in Miguel Corona's corner in the 62nd minute after Athletic striker Joseba Etxeberria poked Ariz Aduriz's flick-on past Almeria goalkeeper David Cobeno in the 31st.
Euzebiusz Smolarek scored in the 54th, and Mohammed Tchit in the 90th, for Racing Santander, who improved to 11 points.
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