La Liga Round-Up

Real Madrid maintained their lead at the top of La Liga courtesy of a 2-1 win over third-placed Deportivo La Coruna in Madrid on Sunday.

Depor travelled to El Santiago Bernabeu looking to draw level with Carlos Queiroz's side, and could have taken the lead when Luque's finish was wrongly ruled out for offside.

Ronaldo put Real ahead on the stroke of half time slotting home from close range after a pinpoint centre from Zinedine Zidane.

Walter Pandiani drew the visitors level just after an hour when he scored with his first touch of the ball after being brought on as a substitute for Diego Trisitan just 15 second ealier.

However, Real skipper Raul popped up with five minutes left to play to grab all three points for Real and restore their two-point lead over Valencia at the head of affairs.

Valencia had earlier moved to the top of La Liga courtesy of a 1-0 win at struggling Real Betis.

Juanito's 17th minute own goal was enough to settle the game for the visitors who inflicted yet another defeat on the Seville side who are now just three points outside of the drop zone.

Osasuna remain in fourth place after a 0-0 draw away at Racing Santander, although the hosts did field four non-EU players for a short period, and the Spanish league may well punish them by handing the match to the visitors.

Mallorca's recent good run came to an end in Malaga as they were on the wrong end of a 3-1 defeat on the Costa Del Sol.

Fernando Sanz gave the hosts the lead after 11 minutes but for Samuel Eto'o to restore parity on the half hour.

The Cameroon striker then missed a penalty ten minutes after half time and he was made to pay for that miss as Duda and Salva Ballesta handed Malaga the three points.

Athletic Bilbao held on to a 2-1 win at home to Sevilla despite being reduced to ten men with five minutes left to play as Asier Del Horno received his second yellow card.

Julio Baptista gave the visitors the perfect start as Sevilla went 1-0 ahead after just a minute, although their joy lasted just five minutes as Ismael Urzaiz drew Bilbao level.

Francisco Yeste put the hosts ahead on 23 minutes and they held on for the win despite the late dismissal.

Albacete gave themselves some breathing space at the foot of the table with a 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Real Zaragoza.

Mikel Aguirre was the hero for the visitors as he scored the only goal of the game after 77 minute to lift Albacete four points from the relegation zone.

Real Murcia grabbed a good point in a goalless draw at Valladolid although they remain in the bottom three of the table.

Match Summaries:
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Sevilla
Malaga 3-1 Mallorca
Racing Santanter 0-0 Osasuna
Real Betis 0-1 Valencia
Real Madrid 2-1 Deportivo
Real Zaragoza 0-1 Albacete 
Valladolid 0-0 Murcia

Click here for an updated Primera Liga table.