Barcelona: Ruben "Cani" Garcia scored from the halfway line to help Villarreal to a 4-2 win over Osasuna and solidify its hold on third place at the midway point of the Spanish season on Saturday.
Three minutes after Krisztian Vadocz's 47th-minute header canceled out Marco Ruben's opener for Villarreal, Cani caught goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez off his line and beat him with a lob from 50 yards out.
Joan Capdevila made it 3-1 for Villarreal in the 65th and substitute Javier Calleja added drama to the match with Osasuna's second in the 71st, but Gonzalo Rodriguez sealed the win with a late header.
Villarreal's first win over Osasuna at El Madrigal in four seasons provisionally lifted the "Yellow Submarine" five points clear of fourth-place Valencia.
"It is not easy to maintain this level and keep winning," said coach Juan Carlos Garrido, whose Villarreal remained unbeaten at home with nine wins and one draw.
Garrido said his team's success was based on "knowing how to suffer and fight for each game."
Later, Jose Callejon scored twice to give Espanyol a 2-1 win over Sevilla, and Athletic Bilbao held off Racing Santander 2-1.
With star striker Pablo Osvaldo out with injury, Callejon picked up the offensive slack to lift Espanyol level with fourth-place Valencia.
Sevilla had the better share of the scoring chances throughout, and Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni had to stretch to tip a header by Frederic Kanoute over the crossbar in the 14th. But the Barcelona-side withstood the onslaught and Callejon raced through to stab in a perfectly placed pass from Javier Marquez to give the Catalan club the lead in the 41st.
Luis Garcia put Callejon through the defense for him to beat goalkeeper Javier Varas in the 79th and seal his team's third away win before Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo pulled one back in injury time.
Bilbao provisionally jumped into sixth place thanks to its seventh win of the season at San Mames Stadium.
Spain midfielder Javier Martinez, who scored a similar header to give Bilbao a draw last week, put his team ahead in the seventh flicking on a free kick with his back to the goal to beat Racing 'keeper Antonio Rodriguez.
Eighteen-year-old Iker Muniain doubled Bilbao's advantage three minutes later with a hard volley off a low cross from strike partner Gaizka Toquero.
Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente had to substituted for at halftime after he hurt his back.
Racing's Ivan Bolado grabbed one back in the 75th, heading in a free kick by Kennedy Bakircioglu, but Bilbao resisted to claim the three points.
Also, Real Sociedad routed Getafe 4-0, Sporting Gijon beat Hercules 2-0 and Zaragoza edged Levante 1-0.
At Alfonso Perez Coliseum, Real Sociedad ended its four-game losing streak to move into 11th place with a goal and two assists from midfielder Xabier Prieto.
Getafe was the stronger team early, but Prieto scored his sixth goal of the season to put Sociedad in front from the penalty spot in the 10th after defender Miguel Torres handled in the area.
Antoine Griezmann gave the Basque side its second goal in the 32nd, and Mikel Gonzalez added the third in the 87th with a left-footed shot from a pass by Prieto, who also set up Mikel Aranburu to cap the rout in the 90th.
"Of the four or five areas we tried to focus on — free kicks, transitions from defense to attack, defending well and protecting leads — today we resolved these situations well," said Sociedad coach Martin Lasarte.
Another team in need of a victory, Sporting Gijon got its first win in 12 weeks to provisionally move out of the relegation zone and into 17th place.
David Barral scored Sporting's first-minute opener, and Nacho Cases doubled the lead with a left-footed strike from outside the area.
Zaragoza also rebounded from last week's 4-0 thrashing by Espanyol to climb out of last place.
Gabriel Fernandez's goal at the end of the first half proved to be the winner. Fernandez charged forward before firing from the edge of the area.
Levante has lost four straight and fell into 19th place, level on points with Zaragoza and Sporting.
On Sunday, league leader Barcelona looks to break the club's record of 27 games without a loss against a Malaga squad full of winter reinforcements, while Real Madrid visits Almeria sitting just two points behind the titleholder.
Valencia plays Deportivo La Coruna in Sunday's late game, and Atletico Madrid receives Mallorca on Monday to close round 19.
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