Villarreal stay on Atletico's tail, Valencia snatch vital victory

BARCELONA (AFP) – Villarreal beat Elche 2-1 on Sunday to keep pace with Atletico Madrid in the battle for third in La Liga.

After Atletico beat Real Sociedad on Saturday, Marcelino Garcia Toral's Yellow Submarine, fourth, pulled level on 54 points.

A little further down Spain's east coast, Valencia came from behind to beat Alaves 3-2 in a match which could prove crucial in their bid to avoid relegation.

Tajon Buchanan and Santiago Mourino's first-half goals were reward for a dominant performance by Villarreal, although Elche's Andre Silva pulled one back late on to make the hosts sweat.

"We relaxed a bit. Until the 70th minute we were dominating the game, then we suffered until the end and that can't happen," Mourino told Movistar.

Villarreal had a host of chances in the first half but Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro made several good saves to keep Nicolas Pepe and Georges Mikautadze at bay.

Elche started the season superbly but are yet to win in 2026, or away from home across the campaign, and have slumped to 17th, one point above the drop zone.

"I think with a bit more time we could have got level. We finished in the way we should have played the whole game," said Silva.

"After letting in the first goal, the team dropped in morale and we can't do that."

Real Betis, fifth, fell further behind in the race for Champions League football with a 2-0 defeat at Getafe.

Manuel Pellegrini's side now trail Villarreal by 11 points with 11 matches remaining.

Kiko Femenia and Martin Satriano netted for Getafe in a good week for Jose Bordalas's side, who beat Real Madrid on Monday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The match was paused for a few minutes in the opening stages because of a fight involving several visiting fans sitting in a home area. La Liga said they would investigate the incident.

VALENCIA EDGE THRILLER

Carlos Corberan's Valencia snatched three late points at home against Alaves, with Hugo Duro netting a penalty in the 99th minute to secure the win.

Valencia climbed to 12th while Alaves are 16th, just two points clear of the relegation zone.

Alaves, on new coach Quique Sanchez Flores's debut at the helm, took the lead from the penalty spot in the second minute through Lucas Boye after Guido Rodriguez fouled Toni Martinez.

There were chances at both ends in a scrappy but entertaining battle, as Valencia pulled level right at the start of the second half.

Javi Guerra calmly fired home after Umar Sadiq teed him up in the box to cheer up Valencia's Mestalla stadium.

Argentine striker Boye nodded Alaves back in front with less than 20 minutes remaining from Denis Suarez's corner.

However, Eray Comert struck for Valencia before Duro won and scored his penalty to claim victory for the hosts.

Alaves finished the game with nine men after Jon Pacheco and Ander Guevara were dismissed in the aftermath of the penalty decision, the former for fouling Duro and the latter for his complaints.

"The team kept going and fought to the end... what counts is that we gave everything," Duro told Movistar.

Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano shared a 1-1 draw which left both sides content not to lose and avoid sinking from lower mid-table further towards the bottom three.

On Saturday, La Liga leaders Barcelona restored their four-point gap to Real Madrid at the top of the table with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.

Alvaro Arbeloa's Madrid snatched a last gasp 2-1 win at Celta Vigo on Friday, ahead of Wednesday's challenging Champions League match against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.