By Duncan Shaw Oct 26, 2008, 22:27 GMT
Madrid - A late 1-1 draw away to Recreativo Huelva on Sunday leaves Valencia on top of the Spanish Liga - but now only one point behind twin giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Unbeaten Valencia have 20 points from eight games, Barca and Real have 19.
On Saturday Barca thrashed hapless Almeria 5-0, Real edged lowly Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in Sunday's late game - with two goals from the in-form Gonzalo Higuain.
Valencia needed a late goal from Euro 2008 top scorer David Villa to keep their unbeaten record intact.
Javier Camunas gave Huelva the lead in the 49th minute with a powerful shot which went in off the near post, after good work down the left by Javi Guerrero.
Valencia enjoyed 72 per cent possession and levelled in the 63rd minute, when Joaquin Sanchez centred from the right and Huelva keeper Asier Riesgo could only parry the header of Juan Mata, allowing Villa to turn in the rebound.
'A draw was not really a bad result for us,' said Villa.
'They are a good team, and caused us a lot of problems.'
Later on Sunday Real defeated gallant Bilbao in an attractive game.
Wesley Sneijder and Higuain gave Real a 2-0 lead within half an hour. But the whites then relaxed and Bilbao took advantage to make it 2-2 before half-time.
First, veteran Joseba Etxeberria scored with a low drive, then the visitors were given a dubious penalty for a push by Gabriel Heinze on Fernando Llorente. Andoni Iraola made no mistake from the spot.
Real dominated the second half and won with a handsome goal from Higuain in the 59th, after being put through by fellow Argentine Fernando Gago.
The hosts had chances to increase their lead, Bilbao's Llorente hit the Real post. By then the visitors were down to ten, due to Fernando Amorebieta having picked up a direct red card.
'It was good to score twice,' said Higuain. 'But what is important is that we are now a bit closer to Valencia and Barcelona.'
Earlier on Sunday Villarreal and Atletico Madrid played out the most dramatic game of the season so far: a heart-stopping 4-4 draw.
Simao Sabrosa and Diego Forlan gave Atletico an early 2-0 lead. Villarreal then turned the tables on them with second-half goals from Marcos Senna, Joseba Llorente, Gonzalo Rodriguez and Guiseppe Rossi.
But Atletico refused to give up and - despite the sending-off of Ever Banega - snatched a defiant draw with late goals from Simao and Raul Garcia.
Villarreal are now fourth with 18 points, one less than Barca and Real.
In fifth place, on 17, are Sevilla, who surprisingly crashed 0-1 at home to lively Malaga.
The only goal was scored in the 16th minute by Adrian Lopez, who beat Andres Palop with a low shot after being set up by Nacho Perez.
Luis Fabiano twice came close to levelling for Sevilla, who were crippled by the sending-off of Adriano.
Their win in Seville takes Malaga up to sixth, with 13 points.
Then come Getafe - 1-0 winners over Valladolid - with 12.
Mallorca and Almeria are joint eighth with 11 points. Mallorca thrashed Espanyol 3-0, with two second-half goals from Aritz Aduriz and one from Fernando Varela.
Atletico Madrid are 10th with ten points.
The heavy defeat in Palma leaves Espanyol 11th, level on nine points with Deportivo Coruna and Sporting Gijon.
Gijon, who made a disastrous start, turned in the performance of the weekend to win 3-0 away to Deportivo, with goals from David Barral, Carmelo Gonzalez and Diego Castro.
Betis are seventh from bottom after Saturday's 2-0 win away to bottom side Osasuna. Then come Valladolid and Numancia, 2-1 winners over Racing Santander, on seven points.
Santander and Huelva both have six points, Bilbao have five, Osasuna just four.
Your Talkback on this Story