Real Madrid claimed a vital win on Sunday night as they defeated Real Sociedad 3-1 in the Anoeta Stadium.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane bravely gave a first league start to young striker Borja Mayoral and was rewarded when the youngster opened the scoring in the 19th minute of the game.
Kevin Rodriguez equalized 10 minutes later, but eight minutes later the defender put the ball into his own net to restore Madrid’s lead.
The much-criticized Gareth Bale then sealed the win with a left foot shot in the 61st minute after a pass from Isco.
A defeat would have left Real Madrid seven points behind FC Barcelona in the Liga Santander after just four games of the season, but the win keeps them just four points off the top of the table.
Sevilla continued their unbeaten start to the season at the expense of Girona, who paid the price for failing to turn good positions into clear chances and missing a late penalty.
Luis Muriel’s 69th minute goal was enough to send Eduardo Berizzo’s side back south with all three points.
On Saturday, Ernesto Valverde’s substitutions worked to perfection as Barcelona came back from a goal down to maintain their unbeaten record with a 2-1 win away to Getafe.
Barcelona produced a flat first half display and Gaku Shibusaki put Getafe ahead with a stunning first half goal, an early candidate for ‘goal of the season’ as the visitors struggled to create chances.
Barca also lost record signing Ousmane Dembele with a hamstring injury which will sideline him for three or four months.
Valverde made a brave change at the break when he replaced Andres Iniesta with Denis Suarez at the break, and Suarez rewarded him by scoring the equalizer on the hour. This was before Barca’s third substitute, Paulinho, netted the winning goal with five minutes left to play.
Atletico Madrid inaugurated their Wanda Metropolitan Stadium with a 1-0 win over Malaga thanks to a 61st minute goal from Antoine Griezmann following good work from Angel Correa.
The game ended with celebrations on the pitch for Atletico, but Malaga are bottom of the table with zero points from their first four matches of the season.
Alaves are also pointless after their four matches following their defeat 3-0 at home to Villarreal.
Cedric Bakambu scored twice and Carlos Bacca netted the third as the visitors enjoyed a comfortable win against a side which looks to be the shadow of the one which reached last season’s King’s Cup final and Alaves coach Luis Zubeldia later became the first managerial casualty in La Liga.
Las Palmas took advantage of a tired Athletic Club Bilbao, who had played in Berlin on Thursday to win 1-0 at home thanks to an 87th minute goal from former Chelsea striker Loric Remy to end Athletic’s unbeaten start to the season.
Levante and Valencia remain unbeaten at the start of the season as they drew 1-1 in the Valencia city derby.
Rodrigo Moreno put Valencia ahead after 31 minutes, but 10 minutes later Enis Bahdi equalized with a low shot from close to the penalty spot to see a share of the points.
Meanwhile, Joaquin Sanchez’s first double since 2011 gave Betis a 2-1 win over Deportivo la Coruna who are deep in trouble with just one point from their opening four games of the season.
