Villarreal beat last-place Recreativo Huelva 2-1, and 10-man Valencia recovered to defeat Real Betis 3-2 as both teams moved ahead of injury-ravaged Real Madrid in the Spanish league.

Spain winger Santi Cazorla and Ariel Miguel Ibagaza scored first-half goals at the Nuevo Colombino stadium for Villarreal, which improved to 28 points and trails leader Barcelona by four.

Valencia is alone in third place with 27 points after Ruben Baraja scored the winner with a 73rd-minute header as Valencia blew a two-goal and overcame the 63rd-minute ejection of Carlos Marchena yesterday.

Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-0 on Saturday to improve to 32 points - six better than Madrid, which lost several more of its international players to injury in a 3-1 loss at Getafe.

Diego Forlan scored two goals and set up the other two as Atletico Madrid rallied for a 4-1 victory against 10-man Racing Santander to stay sixth.

Also yesterday, it was: Almeria 0, Deportivo La Coruna 1; Valladolid 3, Mallorca 0; Malaga 4, Osasuna 2; Athletic Bilbao 2, Numancia 0; and Espanyol 0, Sporting Gijon 1.

Villarreal came into the match with several injuries, and striker Jozy Altidore used a rare start to trouble the Recreativo goal early.

Cazorla scored his fourth goal of the season in the 27th minute after his long shot deflected through the area and left goalkeeper Asier Riesgo without a chance. Ibagaza swung his free kick from outside the area inside near post in the 45th as Villarreal rebounded from its first league defeat since April.

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