Valencia withstood a late onslaught from Real Betis to move up to second with an enthralling 6-3 win at the Benito Villamarin on Sunday. The visitors looked to be cruising to a fifth win in eight games this season as Geoffrey Kondogbia, Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo and Santi Mina fired them into a 4-0 lead with just over 10 minutes to go.

However, Betis threatened a stunning comeback as three goals in five minutes from Joel Campbell, Antonio Sanabria and Cristian Tello set up a thrilling finale. More drama was to come, but at the other end as the on-fire Simone Zaza drilled home his seventh goal in eight games to make the game safe before Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.

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Valencia are now four points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona with third-placed Real Madrid a point further back. Leganes’s fantastic start to just their second season in the top flight also continued as they compounded more misery on Malaga with a 2-0 win at La Rosaleda to move up to sixth.

Malaga remain winless and rooted to the bottom of the table, five points off safety. Cedric Bakambu’s double handed Villarreal a 2-1 win at Girona. And Eibar moved out of the relegation zone despite failing to turn their dominance into goals in a 0-0 draw at home to Deportivo la Coruna.

Brief scores:

  • Valencia 6 (Geoffrey Kondogbia, Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo, Santi Mina, Simone Zaza, Andreas Pereira) beat Real Betis 3 (Joel Campbell, Antonio Sanabria, Cristian Tello)