MADRID - Real Madrid overcame another hurdle in their bid to retain the Primera Liga title after beating city rivals Atletico 2-0 on Sunday.
Bernd Schuster's men got off to the perfect start when captain Raul stabbed them in front inside the opening minute and Ruud van Nistelrooy added a second shortly before the break.
Real remain seven points clear of Barcelona, who laboured to a 1-0 win over Racing Santander, Thierry Henry nodding home the only goal at the Nou Camp after 31 minutes.
Joseba Llorente struck the fastest goal in Primera Liga history as Real Valladolid edged out fifth-placed Espanyol 2-1.
Llorente netted twice, the first coming after just 7.42 seconds, as Valladolid maintained their recent fine form.
Marc Torrejon pulled one back for the visitors just before the hour mark to set up a tense finish but the Catalans could not find an equaliser.
Ruben Polido netted in injury time to hand Almeria a 1-0 win over struggling Deportivo La Coruna while second-half efforts from Eduardo Dady and Carlos Vela enabled Osasuna to beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0.
Real Zaragoza returned to winning ways in style with a 3-1 win over Murcia for their first Primera Liga victory in 10 matches.
Diego Milito scored twice in the second half, adding to Ricardo Oliveira's 33rd-minute strike, as Murcia capitulated.
Ivan Alonso netted with a late header for Murcia but it mattered little.
Real Betis and Recreativo Huelva drew 1-1 in a hard-fought Andalusian derby.
Edu put Betis in front on 56 minutes, but Javi Guerrero equalised just two minutes later to leave both teams level on points with 18th-placed Murcia.
Levante came from behind to snatch a dramatic late point at home to Real Mallorca.
Two goals from Mallorca striker Dani Guiza looked to have given the visitors the three points after Alex Geijo's opener, but Alvaro headed a late leveller to give rock-bottom Levante some much-needed respite in their improbable bid for Primera Liga survival.
Getafe beat Sevilla 3-2 on Saturday night.
Luis Fabiano gave the visitors the lead after quarter of an hour, but Francisco Javier Casquero and Juan Luis Albin struck either side of half-time to give Getafe a lead which they kept until the last minute.
Igor Dragutinovic looked to have salvaged a point for Sevilla with a late leveller, only to see his team slip to a 10th league defeat of the season following Cosmin Contra's injury-time winner.
In Saturday's other match, Villarreal crushed near neighbours Valencia 3-0 to keep up their challenge for a place in next season's Champions League.
Goals from Robert Pires, Nihat Kahveci and Joan Capdevila gave the home team an easy win over a Valencia side that looks to be in freefall.
Ronald Koeman's men have now gone eight league games without a win and should this form continue for much longer they could even find themselves drawn into a relegation battle.
