Barca hits back to down Sevilla

Tito Vilanova's men appeared to be heading for defeat when Piotr Trochowski and Alvaro Negredo fired Sevilla into a deserved 2-0 lead, but Cesc Fabregas' brace pulled Barca level before substitute David Villa secured the win in stoppage-time.

Sevilla was not helped by the 72nd-minute dismissal of Gary Medel after a clash with Fabregas, with Barca's final two goals coming while the host was attempting to hold on with 10 men.

The win leaves Barca four points clear of Malaga at the summit, and 11 clear of Real Madrid ahead of its arch-rival's game with Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday evening (Monday morning AEST). Barca faces Madrid in El Clasico at the Nou Camp next weekend.

Malaga climbed up to second spot after thrashing 10-man Andalusian rival Real Betis 4-0 at La Rosaleda.

The visitor got off to nightmare start as goalkeeper Casto was sent off after just 11 minutes for bringing down Eliseu inside the area and Joaquin confidently stroked home the penalty.

Javier Saviola then continued his great form with the second just before the half-hour and the host's fine afternoon was rounded off in the final 20 minutes when Antonio Amaya could only direct Nacho Monreal's cross into his own net before Isco dinked in the fourth moments later.

In another derby match, this time in the Basque country, Real Sociedad defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in a scrappy game at Anoeta.

Second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann (62) and Carlos Vela (72) earned Sociedad the victory, the second coming from the penalty spot in an incident that saw Athletic defender Fernando Amorebieta shown a second yellow card for handball.

The day's other Primera Division match saw Valencia record only its second victory of the new season after easing past Real Zaragoza 2-0 at the Mestalla.

Sofiane Feghouli opened the scoring for Los Che in the 12th minute and Jonathan Viera doubled the advantage just before the hour mark.

The dismissal of Feghouli moments later meant Valencia was left facing a nervy final half-hour, but Mauricio Pellegrino's men held on for a much-needed victory.