First division, day 3

Sevilla held on to top spot after an exciting 3-2 victory over city rivals Betis on Sunday evening. Kanouté lobbed Doblas to put Juande Ramos's side ahead midway through the first half, but two opportunist strikes from Sobis either side of half time turned the scoreline around. Kanouté headed home a Navas cross to level the scores though soon afterwards, and an individualist goal from Renato near the end gave the hosts the three points.

Barcelona are just behind Sevilla though after they too clocked up their third victory in a row, beating Racing Santander 0-3. The Cantabrians hit the post early on, but a speculative shot from Eto'o slipped through the hands of Toño to give the Blaugrana the lead. Giuly added a second a few minutes from the end, and Ronaldinho got the third from the penalty spot after Toño was sent off for bringing down Gudjohnsen.

Valencia also made it three wins out of three after a 2-0 victory over Getafe, who themselves had won their previous two games. Morientes followed up his Champions League hat-trick, heading in Vicente's cross just before the break, and Vicente got the second himself from the penalty spot after he himself had been fouled by Contra. The Chés visit Barcelona in the Nou Camp next weekend.

Real Madrid moved up in to the top four with a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad, although it took them some time to get going and there were some whistles from the crowd before the interval. Reyes curled a free kick past Riesgo though early in the second half, and after Aranburu was sent off for a foul on Sergio Ramos, substitute Beckham made it two after picking up the ball in his own half and running on to beat the keeper.

Atlético Madrid proved that they are a side to be contended with this season after thrashing a poor Athletic Bilbao 1-4. Javier Aguirre gave a first start to Kun Agüero, and he set up Maxi for the first goal early on. Petrov squeezed a long shot past Aranzubia for a second before the break, and Agüero got the third himself after the restart. Javi Martínez curled one in off the bar at the other end, but Galletti wrapped things up from the penalty spot after Agüero was fouled in injury time.

Zaragoza are still ahead of Atlético on goal difference though after beating Mallorca 2-0. The visitors found themselves with ten men when Varela was shown a red card for a foul on Aimar ten minutes before half time, and Víctor Fernández's side took advantage to go in front when Aimar set up Ewerthon after the restart. Sergio García got the second later on from D'Alessandro's cross.

Osasuna finally got their first win of the new campaign, beating newly promoted Gimnastic Tarragona 2-0 with goals in the first and last minute of the match. The Pamplona based side hadn't scored in their first two games, but within 40 seconds Milosevic played on a long ball from Muñoz for Webó to beat Bizzarri with a long shot. And with the match coming to an end, the visiting keeper dropped a cross at the feet of Milosevic for him to score the second.

Espanyol recorded their first points of the season as well with a 2-1 victory over Celta. All the goals came at the beginning of the second half, with Moisés Hurtado heading Luis García's free kick past Pinto to give the home side the lead. Canobbio equalised with a well struck free kick, but Tamudo laid the ball back for Jonatas to poke home the winner soon afterwards.

Levante were another side not get off the mark in their first two games, but they beat Recreativo Huelva 0-1 to move off the bottom of the table. The only goal came six minutes from the end, Alexis heading the ball up past López Vallejo after Kapo had played back a corner. The result means that Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao and Racing Santander occupy the relegation spots. (17.09.06)

Only one match on Saturday night this weekend, with Deportivo La Coruña moving to the top of the table after beating Villarreal 2-0. Capdevila put the Galicians ahead in only the fourth minute with a long shot from wide out on the left, and they could have scored a couple of times more before the full back got his second of the night after the visiting defence failed to clear a free kick. The result leaves Villarreal floundering near the bottom of the table having not scored a single goal in their first three games. (16.09.06)