Substitute Adrian could only manage a consolation for the visitors after pouncing on a wayward Giovanni van Bronckhorst header before running through the Catalan defence and sliding the ball past Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

Valencia edged out Espanyol 3-2 in an entertaining match at the Mestalla on Saturday night to stay in the title race and end their opponents' impressive 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Los Che led 2-1 at the interval with goals from David Villa and Vicente sandwiching Albert Riera's strike for the Catalans.

Miguel Angel Angulo extended Valencia's lead in the second half but Luis Garcia's strike for the visitors from Barcelona set up a tense finale.

Juanito Gutierrez's dramatic injury-time header eased Real Betis' relegation worries as they came from behind on three occasions to draw 3-3 with Villarreal.

The Verdiblancos, playing at Seville's La Cartuja stadium due to a three-match ground ban, moved six points clear of trouble into 14th courtesy of the draw.

Yellow Submarine substitute Robert Pires had looked like ending his injury nightmare with the winning strike until Juanito's late intervention.

Diego Forlan opened the scoring for the visitors in the second minute before Betis equalised eight minutes later through Fernandez Fernando's header in a frenetic opening 10 minutes.

Uruguayan frontman Forlan notched again two minutes after the break to restore the lead only for Edu to equalise again, before Juanito cancelled out Pires' effort.

Real Sociedad breathed new life into their bid to avoid relegation from the Primera Liga with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 10-man Levante.

Jon Ansotegui slotted home the decisive goal seven minutes before half-time to earn Miguel Angel Lotina's three points which moves them off the bottom of table.

Levante's cause was not helped by having to play the majority of the second half a man light following the dismissal of Mustapha Riga for two bookable offences.