First division, day 7

Real Madrid hold on to top spot in the league after last week's two leaders Getafe and Celta both lost their respective matches. Getafe fell to their first defeat of the season, losing 1-0 at Betis thanks to a controversial penalty after Oliveira fell under a challenge by keeper Luis García on the quarter hour mark. Oliveira converted the kick himself, and his side could have gone further ahead when Assunçao rattled the crossbar with a free kick after the break. Getafe ended the match with ten men after Diego Rivas was sent off for a second booking, but the Madrid based side are still in third spot in the table. The result was a welcome relief for Betis though, who visit Chelsea in the Champions League next Wednesday.

Celta lost 2-0 to an Osasuna side who climb above them in the table and who are now in second place, level on points with Madrid. The Galicians lost their star striker Baiano to an injury in the fifth minute, and were unable to make any headway in a dull first half. Milosevic gave the locals the lead after picking up a David López pass three minutes after the restart, and substitute Webó ran on to a long ball from López to round the advancing Pinto and steer the ball into an empty net a few minutes later.

Valencia are back up to fifth in the table after beating Málaga 2-1. Ayala opened the scoring for the Chés in the ninth minute after the defence only partly cleared a header, and Vicente added a second somewhat fortunately midway through the second half when his shot ballooned off a defender over the head of Arnau. Ex Valencia striker Salva pulled one back though, and only some first class saves from Cañizares ensured the three points for the home side.

Real Sociedad moved away from the danger zone with a 0-1 win at Zaragoza, the first defeat of the season for Víctor Muñoz's side. The only goal came from the penalty spot in the twelfth minute, Xabi Prieto converting the kick after Uranga was pushed by Alvaro in the area. The visitors were left with ten men when Aranburu picked up a second yellow card twenty minutes from the end, but they held on to take home a valuable win.

Sevilla celebrated the start of their centenary year with a 0-1 victory at Athletic Bilbao, who stay in the bottom three as a result. Both sides started the day in the lower reaches of the table, and each had their chances before Daniel Alves got what was to be the only goal, a screamer of a shot after Aranzubia could only palm away a cross just before half time. The sending off of Tarantino midway through the second half signalled the end of Athletic's challenge.

Espanyol fell to a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Cádiz, and finished the weekend just a point above the relegation spots. With Tamudo back in the side the Catalans were at full strength, but they couldn't find the route to goal and went behind midway through the second half when Pavoni got on the end of Sesma's cross to beat Kameni. Sesma himself got a second goal later on, and the hosts ended with ten men when Armando Sá was shown a red card near the end.

Mallorca are still bottom of the table though after they could only draw 0-0 at home to Racing Santander. Héctor Cúper made seven changes to his side, and they had the chance to go ahead in the third minute when Ayoze pushed Jonas Gutiérrez in the area. But Arango fired his penalty kick wide, and Víctor hit the woodwork a few minutes later on a disappointing night for the San Moix crowd. (16.10.05)

Real Madrid moved to the top of the table pending Sunday's games with a 0-3 win over city neighbours Atlético Madrid. Within six minutes Luxemburgo's side had the upper hand when Antonio López was sent off for bringing down Raúl in the penalty area, Ronaldo converting the resulting penalty. But they were unable to take advantage of the extra man until the hour mark, when substitute Guti found Ronaldo for him to score his second of the night. Then with the game in injury time Beckham set up Robinho for him to cross in front of goal, and Perea turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Ronaldo. The Brazilian striker was injured in the move though, and had to be carried off on a stretcher.

A topsy-turvey game at the Riazor stadium, where Barcelona came back from a goal down at Deportivo to score three times and then see their opponents fight back for a 3-3 draw. Valerón gave the Galicians an early lead after a Munitis shot came back off the post, but Eto'o levelled the scores five minutes before the break, and then set up Ronaldinho for him to put Frank Rijkaard's side in front. Ronaldinho got a third from the penalty spot after Molina brought down Deco soon after the restart, but Munitis pulled one back and Rubén Castro saved a point with a late strike.

Alavés and Villarreal shared the points in the opening game on Saturday after drawing 1-1. With Riquelme nursing an injury and rested for the Champions League, Roger took advantage of his first start of the season to put the visitors ahead in only the third minute of the game. Nené levelled the scores a few minutes later though after Bodipo played on Rubén Navarro's cross, and although both sides had their chances, that was how it stayed. (15.10.05)