In other action, Sevilla remain third with a hard-fought 2-0 win at home to Eibar, thanks to a 30th minute goal from Pablo Sarabia and an injury time strike from Vitolo.

Kevin Gameiro scored the second fastest hat-trick in La Liga history at four minutes and 45 seconds as Atletico Madrid won 4-1 away to Sporting Gijon.

The Frenchman scored with goals in the 80th, 81st and 85th minutes after coming on as a 61st minute substitute.

Yannick Carrasco had put Atletico ahead just 13 seconds into the second half, but Sergio Alvarez equalized five minutes later and Sporting pressed hard for a winning goal until Gameiro' s quickfire treble.

Atletico's position in fourth place was made more secure when Samu Castelejo's late goal gave Villarreal a 1-0 win away to Real Sociedad.

The visitors defended solidly in the first half and only looked to attack in the last 25 minutes, but in that time created the best chances of the game, before Samu's 93rd minute volley from a Jaume Costa cross.

First half goals from Nani and Zaza gave Valencia just their third home win of the campaign as they defeated Athletic Club Bilbao 2-0.

Visiting coach Ernesto Valverde made a club record-breaking 290th appearance as coach, but his side struggled to adapt to lineup changes. An injury to Aritz Aduriz just 2 minutes after coming on as a 51st minute substitute meant Athletic had to play for over 35 minutes with just 10 men.

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