Atletico Madrid moved up to fifth by ending capital derby rivals Rayo Vallecano's unbeaten start to the season in a slightly nervy finish.
Derby win for Atletico while Mallorca remain unbeaten
Atletico Madrid moved up to fifth by ending capital derby rivals Rayo Vallecano's unbeaten start to the season in the Primera Liga but they almost threw away a four-goal lead.
Super Cup winners
Atletico took the lead in the 29th minute of their 4-3 win over city rivals
Rayo when Mario Suarez tapped in Diego Costa's cross following some abysmal defending.
Rayo, who were playing with a three-man defence, could have found themselves further behind before half-time as they continued to cause their own problems.
And Atletico did score their inevitable second in the 49th minute when Koke tapped in Costa's cross before, less than two minutes later, Arda Turan added the third with another simple, close-range finish.
In the 55th minute, Costa won a somewhat generous penalty from Jose Manuel Casado and star striker Falcao made no mistake with the spot-kick.
But in the final eight minutes and with Atletico seemingly thinking the game was safe, substitute Andrija Delibasic sparked a comeback with two goals.
Leo then incredibly made it 4-3 in the 89th minute to set up a very anxious finish for home side Atletico but they managed to hang on.
Tomer Hemed scored his fourth goal in four games as
Real Mallorca maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 1-1 draw away at
Osasuna.
After a slow start the game was awakened when both sides were reduced to 10 men as Jose Nunes and Joseba Llorente were both sent-off when they clashed 10 minutes before half-time.
Osasuna, though, remained the more likely team to break the deadlock and they finally did so 21 minutes from time when Kike Sola headed in Roland Lamah's cross.
However, the visitors responded positively to going behind and after a brilliant save from Andres Fernandez had denied them a fortuitous equaliser, Hemed ensured they left Pamplona with a point as he headed home from Emilio Nsue's corner.
Advantage
Fernando Llorente scored on his return as
Athletic Bilbao twice came from behind to claim a point against
Espanyol in an enthralling 3-3 draw at Cornella-El Prat.
Espanyol enjoyed the better of the first half and went ahead thanks to a wonderful team move on 18 minutes as Javi Lopez side-footed home before Joan Verdu tapped in a second just before half-time.
However, Athletic responded early in the second half and after Aritz Aduriz had brought them back into the game, Llorente scored within seconds of coming on as a substitute to level the scores with 25 minutes remaining.
The drama continued as Samuele Longo restored Espanyol's lead with 10 minutes to go, only to be shown a second yellow card for his over-exuberant celebrations.
And Athletic made their man advantage count almost immediately as Aduriz volleyed in a stunning equaliser to ensure a point for Marcelo Bielsa's side.
Real Zaragoza's disappointing form continued as they lost 2-0 at
Real Sociedad.
Inigo Martinez opened the scoring in the 55th minute before former Arsenal man Carlos Vela scored from the penalty spot six minutes later after being brought down in the box by Javier Paredes.
The defeat was Zaragoza's third in four games and leaves them sitting just one place above the relegation zone.
Winless
Granada's winless start to the season continued as Floro Flores' goal 10 minutes from time could only salvage a 1-1 draw against
Deportivo La Coruna at Nuevo Los Carmenes.
However, it could have been so much worse for the home side, who went behind when Nelson Oliveira struck just before half-time and could have conceded again when the same player hit the crossbar just after the break.
Replays later suggested the ball may have crossed the line.
As it was Granada recovered and eventually found a way through Depor's stubborn resistance when Jaime Romero crossed for Flores to slide home his first goal since joining on loan from Udinese.
The draw extends Depor's unbeaten start to the campaign to four games, but they will be disappointed at only taking a point from a game in which they enjoyed the majority of the chances.
