Old boy Samuel Eto'o grabbed a brace against Mallorca in Barcelona's 3-1 win.
Samuel Eto'o came back to haunt his former club by grabbing a double as Barcelona beat Mallorca 3-1.The Catalans, who move joint top with Valencia, produced a superb first-half display and had the game won before half-time leading 3-0.
Henrik Larsson, who had been restored to the starting line-up, opened the scoring after ten minutes when he knocked home from close range after Xavi had seen a goal-bound volley blocked.
Eto'o then took centre stage and stepped up to convert a penalty on 35 minutes after Sergio Ballesteros had felled Ronaldinho in the box.
The Cameroon hit-man opted not to celebrate the goal, and did so again just four minutes later when he raced on to a superb Larsson pass to lob goalkeeper Miguel Moya and tap home (pictured) to put the visitors out of sight.
Mallorca rallied in the second period and got a consolation through Andrija Delibasic 12 minutes from time, but it was scant consolation in the face of a dominant Barca performance.
Valencia joined Frank Rijkaard's men at the top of La Liga after a routine 2-0 home win over Racing Santander.
Claudio Ranieri's men were always in control of the game and when Racing were reduced to ten men when they were already trailing, the clash was as good as decided.
Spain international Vicente opened the scoring on 25 minutes with a deflected free-kick, and quarter of an hour later Oriol Lozano received his marching orders for a second bookable offence after clattering into Miguel Angel Angulo..
The visitors' fragile defence was breached again in first-half injury time when Italian Stefano Fiore grabbed his first goal for the club to seal the points.
Espanyol bounced back from their disappointing midweek defeat to Getafe to edge out Malaga at Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic, and go third.
Ivan de la Pena was the match-winner, he collected a Maxi Rodriguez pass to fire underneath Juan Catalayud five minutes after half-time.
Osasuna climbed to fourth with a hard-fought 2-1 home success over Getafe.
Moha moved the hosts ahead on 20 minutes after coolly dispatching a cross, and former Aston Villa hit-man Savo Milosevic doubled the advantage a minute before the interval.
Getafe refused to lie down, however, and Sergio Pachon reduced the arrears moments later with a fine strike from distance, but an equaliser was not forthcoming.
Sevilla came from behind to beat Real Sociedad to join the host of clubs on ten points.
Youngster Sergio Ramos, who is reported to be interesting Arsenal, enhanced his reputation by equalising Adriano Rossato's opener for Sociedad.
Uruguay international striker Dario Silva then sealed the points with the winner after 65 minutes, and the result sends Sociedad to the foot of the table.
Zaragoza stayed with leading pack with an action-packed 4-3 win over Levante.
Zaragoza were twice behind, but fought back to claim all three points thanks to two goals from former Bolton loanee Javi Moreno.
Bulgarian international Vladimir Manchev put Levante ahead on 25 minutes when he headed home a Alberto Rivera cross.
The hosts replied through the prolific David Villa who converted a dubious penalty after Jose Culebras was adjudged to have brought down the hit-man.
Manchez notched his second just before the break, but Zaragoza were level seconds after the restart courtesy of a sharp finish from Moreno.
Savio and the Moreno again put Zaragoza in control with well-taken strikes, but they were left to sweat when Fabio Celestini made it 4-3 with 15 minutes remaining.
Albacete are still searching for their first win of the campaign, although they did manage to double their points tally after a goalless draw at Numancia.
Match summaries:
Osasuna 2-1 Getafe
Espanyol 1-0 Malaga
Numancia 0-0 Albacete
Mallorca 1-3 Barcelona
Real Zaragoza 4-3 Levante
Seville 2-1 Real Sociedad
Valencia 2-0 Racing Santander
Click here for updated La Liga table
