La Liga roundup: Villarreal remain top despite first loss

Villarreal remain the early pacesetters in La Liga despite suffering their first defeat of the season on Sunday, a 1-0 defeat against lowly neighbours Levante.

Villarreal had picked up 16 from a possible 18 points going into the game while Levante had just three points to their name and propped up the table.

However it was the underdogs who deservedly claimed the points, taking advantage of Villarreal defender Bojan Jokic's first-half dismissal to clinch the win through Deyverson's fine late volley.

It was not such a good day for Levante's city rivals Valencia, who surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

Dani Parejo put the visitors ahead after 19 minutes with a stunning free-kick but his side's advantage lasted little more than 10 minutes, ended by Aymeric Laporte's close-range header.

Athletic were galvanised by the equaliser and swept their opponents away after the break, taking the lead for the first time through Markel Susaeta on the hour mark and former Valencia striker Aritz Aduriz sealed the three points not long after.

Late Vietto strike holds Real

Luciano Vietto was the hero in the Madrid derby as Atletico held rivals Real to a 1-1 draw.

Athletic's win lifts them onto seven points, two behind Valencia who had looked to be turning a corner after back-to-back victories over Granada and Lyon.

Also on Sunday, Ruben Castro scored one goal and set up another for Heiko Westermann as Real Betis beat Rayo Vallecano at the Vallecas Stadium for the first time since 1999, the visitors running out 2-0 winners.