Matchday 6 - Round-up

Real Zaragoza pulled off a remarkable turn-around at the Romareda on Saturday evening, coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Sporting de Gijon in the matchday six curtain-raiser. An Ivan Obradovic own goal and a Diego Castro penalty gave Manuel Preciado's team a comfortable lead but Zaragoza, despite being reduced to ten men with the dismissal of Jiri Jarosik, managed to claw their way back thanks to a fine Florent Sinama-Pongolle brace.

Real Sociedad pressed and pressed against Espanyol and finally got their reward at Anoeta in the 83rd minute when Juan Forlin turned the ball into his own net to hand the Basque hosts a 1-0 win. Martin Lasarte's team were superior to Mauricio Pochettino's but they were not convicing in front of goal; perhaps Sociedad's lone striker Raul Tamudo was uncomfortable with the idea of scoring against the club that made him a legend. 

Valencia maintain leader status in La Liga after matchday six thanks to a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at Mestalla. Unai Emery's men took an early lead through Aritz Aduriz and they showed gritty perseverance to hold on to that advantage despite battling a war on two fronts against Athletic's ambition and their own physical exhaustion. Vicente only doubled Valencia's lead in second half stoppage time and it was reduced to the slimmest of margins again two minutes later by a last gasp Igor Gabilondo goal.

Sevilla fans finally had something to cheer about at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as Gregorio Manzano took full advantage of the home debut factor to orchestrate a 3-1 win over close rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Alvaro Negredo, Diego Perotti and Fredi Kanoute notched up the goals to send the stadium into raptures and could have had more were it not for Atletico's in-form goalkeeper David de Gea. Quique Sanchez Flores' team did get a consolation goal courtesy of Diego Costa but they were thoroughly well beaten here.

Dani Parejo inspired Getafe to a 3-0 win over giant killers Hercules at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. Parejo scored the first goal himself and had a part to play in both of the others as Manu del Moral equalled Roberto Soldado's scoring record and Miku added another late on. Hercules barely showed up.

Villarreal remain the closest rivals to Valencia at the top of the table as they dispatched Racing Santander 2-0 with goals from Nilmar and Giuseppe Rossi at the Madrigal. Juan Carlos Garrido's two central strikers are now the out-and-out top scorers in the division having helped their club to five consecutive league wins.

Another controversial first half red card for Eliseu for the second weekend running affected Malaga's chances at the Juegos Mediterraneos but they still went ahead against Juanma Lillo's men thanks to a goal from former Aresenal cadet Quincey Owesu-Abeyie. Kala Uche was once again Lillo's saviour, however, as he struck late on to secure a 1-1 draw for Almeria.

Osasuna thought they had the game won at the Reyno de Navarra when Walter Pandiani scored in the 72nd minute to hand the Pamplonans a lead over Luis Garcia Plaza's struggling Levante side. Former Deportivo La Coruna star Sergio popped up with an equaliser less than ten minutes later, however, to provide the Valencians with an important away point in a 1-1 tie.

Not for the first time this season, Barcelona threw away points at the Camp Nou and this time it was against arguably the worst away side in the division, Real Mallorca. Lionel Messi scored the opener on his return to league action following injury, but poor defending from a corner allowed Spanish under-21 international Emilio Nsue to level things just before half time and poor finishing in the second half prevented Pep Guardiola's side from re-establishing the initiative as former blaugrana hero Michael Laudrup saw his side hold on for a 1-1 finish.

Jose Mourinho answered his critics - I'm just as baffled as he is as to why he still has so many - with a comprehensive 6-1 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna at the Santiago Bernabeu in the final game of matchday six. Real Madrid move back in front of Barcelona with this win, which was by far the most satisfying result of the season for Los Merengues as they finally found their goal scoring touch. Cristiano Ronaldo (2), Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and a Jose Ze Castro own goal sent the home fans into delirium against a weak Depor team, who are feeling the pressure down at the bottom of the table. Juan Rodriguez's solitary goal was scant consolation for Miguel Angel Lotina.