Atlético Madrid 3 - Villarreal 4

Atlético: Leo Franco; Seitaridis, Perea, Pablo, Pernía; Maniche, Raúl García; Reyes (Luis García 76'), Maxi, Simao (Jurado 76'); Agüero. 4-2-3-1.
Villarreal: Viera; Angel, Fuentes (Cygan 46'), Godín, Capdevila; Cani, Marcos Senna, Bruno (Josico 58'), Pires; Rossi (Nihat 46'), Guille Franco. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Atlético: Pablo, Reyes, Simao for Ze Castro, Luis García, Diego Forlán / Villarreal: Godín, Cani, Pires for Cygan, Cazorla, Mati Fernández.

Goals:
1-0. 08. Pablo. Got above defence to head Pernía cross past Viera.
2-0. 24. Simao. Picked up Maniche pass and fired high shot into far corner.
2-1. 30. Rossi. Ran on to Capdevila pass and lobbed ball over Leo Franco.
2-2. 41. Fuentes. Drove shot into net after corner not cleared by defence.
3-2. 61. Agüero. Steered header wide of keeper from wide Simao free kick.
3-3. 69. Nihat. Took Guille Franco pass and beat Leo Franco with shot on turn.
3-4. 89. Nihat. Collected pass from Cani and beat keeper from wide angle.

Villarreal won a thrilling match at Atlético Madrid by 3-4 to stay level on points with second placed Barcelona in the table. The locals went two up early on, with Pablo heading a Pernía free kick past Viera and Simao beating the keeper for a second time after Maniche set him up. But Rossi ran on to Capdevila's pass to get one back on the half hour mark, and Fuentes made it all square shortly before the interval after Raúl García left the ball at his feet trying to clear a corner.

Maxi had a chance to restore the lead after Bruno was adjudged to have handled in the area, but the team captain fired his spot kick wide. A few minutes later Agüero did put the locals back in front with a header from Simao's free kick, but Nihat levelled the scores once again with a shot on the turn past Leo Franco. And with a draw seemingly on the cards the Turkish forward struck the winner from a wide angle to give his side the victory. It was the second seven goal thriller in four days in the Calderón stadium, but this time Atlético were on the wrong side.