Espanyol have traditionally been easy victims for Madrid and once Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after 23 minutes.

　　Sami Khedira doubled the lead and Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-0 just after the break the destination of the points was never in doubt. Kaka added a fourth after 66 minutes and Higuain doubled his tally for the night with 12 minutes remaining.

　　The win sees Madrid maintain their advantage over FC Barcelona, who defeated Sporting Gijon on Saturday night.

　　Valencia remain in third place after a hard-fought win 1-0 in Granada. Sofiane Feghouli's first half strike giving Unai Emery's side all three points.

　　Meanwhile Athletic Club Bilbao move into fourth place after two Markel Susaeta goals gave them a 2-0 win at home to Real Sociedad, who were unlucky to see a Carlos Vela goal not given after TV replays showed the ball had clearly crossed the goalline.

　　Earlier in the day Villarreal squandered a lead to allow bottom of the table Zaragoza to defeat them 2-0. The visitors had opened the scoring in the first half through Hernan Martinucco, but failed to press home their advantage and paid for it as Luis Garcia and Abraham Minero grabbed late goals to give Zaragoza a surprise home win.

　　On Saturday FC Barcelona survived being without the suspended Leo Messi and playing the second half of their game with 10 men after Gerard Pique was sent off to defeat Sporting Gijon 3-1 in the Camp Nou.

　　Barca saw two good penalty appeals turned down in the first half before Andres Iniesta opened the scoring following a typical slide-rule move from the reigning league champions.

　　The game changed radically in the first minute of the second half, when Gerard Pique was harshly sent off for a foul on Miguel de las Cuevas and David Barral equalized.

　　With 10 men Barca struggled to break down a well organized Sporting until Keita scored a fine left foot shot with 11 minutes remaining and Xavi Hernandez sealed the win in the closing minutes after linking with Andres Iniesta.

　　Sevilla and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 in a game between two sides with European ambitions. Eduardo Salvio scored a neat header after nine minutes to put the visitors ahead, but Baba Diawara equalized with his first goal for Sevilla eight minutes into the second half.

　　Rayo Vallecano came back from 2-0 down to notch an impressive 4-2 win at home to relegation haunted Racing Santander. Racing found themselves down to 10 men in just the second minute after goalkeeper Tono was shown a direct red card, but took a surprise lead through Marc Torrejon and Gustavo Colsa.

　　However, Rayo roared back into the game. Michu scored just before halftime and netted a second to level the game at 2-2, before Raul Tamudo and Piti assured the win.

　　Mallorca and Osasuna drew 1-1 with Emilio Nsue's second half strike cancelling out Alvaro Cejudo's opener for the visitors.

　　Meanwhile Malaga won 3-1 in Getafe. Diego Castro put Getafe ahead towards the end of the first half, but magnificent goals from Eliseu Pereira, Jeremy Toulalan and Santi Cazorla gave Malaga their reward for a much improved second half display.

　　Levante entertain Betis on Monday night.