Villarreal remain joint-second with Real Madrid and Celta Vigo

Villarreal enjoyed a familiar story of success after notching up their third 3-1 victory in a row to keep themselves level on points with Real Madrid.

Athletic Bilbao were the victims this time, following on from Espanyol and Granada, and the Basque side were never in the match.

Bruno Soriano's penalty, Mario's 25-yard thunderbolt and a Leo Baptistao header put the Yellow Submarine three goals up, with Aritz Aduriz heading a stoppage-time consolation for Bilbao.

Sevilla's miserable start rolled on as they were beaten 2-1 at home by high-flying Celta Vigo.

Goals from Nolito and Daniel Wass gave the visitors a two-goal cushion at half-time, while Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Sevilla early in the second period to bring Unai Emery's side back into the game.

Sporting Gijon picked up their first win by seeing off local rivals Deportivo La Coruna 3-2.

Roma loanee Antonio Sanabria scored twice in the opening eight minutes to get the visitors off to a fantastic start, but the Galicians fought their way back through goals by Juanfran and Luis Alberto, only for Alex Menendez to restore Sporting's lead 11 minutes before the break.

Deportivo dominated the second half but were unable to find another equaliser, although Lucas Perez struck the woodwork and Alberto saw a curling shot go narrowly wide.

Javi Guerra's first goal for Rayo Vallecano kick-started their campaign as they also registered a first win, beating Las Palmas 1-0.

Guerra, who joined Los Franjirrojos as a free agent on transfer deadline day, converted Roberto Trashorra's pass four minutes before the break and that proved the decisive moment of the match.