Reigning champions Barcelona and surprise packages Levante make an unlikely couple at the top of the Primera Division standings following round six of the season, while Gonzalo Higuain struck a hat-trick as Real Madrid thrashed Espanyol.
Barca took over top spot after an early goal from Adriano saw Pep Guardiola's side claim a scrappy 1-0 win at bottom club Sporting Gijon, but they find themselves level on 14 points with unfancied Levante.
Levante made it fours wins on the trot after a first-half effort from Juanlu saw them record a 1-0 away victory over Real Betis, who have now lost back-to-back matches after starting the season with four successive victories.
Madrid put behind them disappointing results at Levante and Racing Santander in their last two away matches with a 4-0 mauling of Espanyol.
Higuain, who has largely had to make do with bench duty so far this season, gave Madrid manager Jose Mourinho a firm reminder of his goalscoring prowess with a treble.
The Argentinian grabbed the first of the game after 17 minutes and added two more in the second half, with former Espanyol midfielder Jose Callejon also scoring against his old team-mates after coming off the bench.
Three points take Real to third in the Primera Division table with their fourth win of the campaign.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Champions League hopefuls Atletico Madrid and Sevilla shared the points in a goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon.
In the day's early kick-off, Athletic Bilbao beat local rivals Real Sociedad 2-1 thanks to a brace from star striker Fernando Llorente.
The Spain international scored in each half to earn Athletic coach Marcelo Bielsa the first victory of his reign at the sixth time of asking.
Sociedad had levelled through defender Inigo Martinez's astonishing strike from his own half but were outplayed for the majority of the encounter and had no answer after Llorente's second as Athletic claimed the Basque derby at the Estadio Anoeta.
On Saturday, a stunning late rally from Malaga saw the Andalusian side defeat Getafe 3-2.
Getafe led 2-1 in the 88th minute courtesy of goals from Pedro Leon and substitute Nicolas Fedor Miku, either side of Ruud van Nistelrooy's equalizer.
But Enzo Maresca tapped in a scruffy equalizer, before Julio Baptista won it with a stunning overhead kick.
Valencia got back to winning ways but failed to kill off Granada as their goalscoring troubles surfaced once more in a 1-0 win.
Sergio Canales' fine early goal was sufficient to seal victory, though forwards Roberto Soldado and Jonas Goncalves wasted a hatful of chances to extend the lead.
And they should have been made to pay by Carlos Martins late on, while Inigo Lopez hit the bar as Granada improved in the second period.
Villarreal's disappointing start to the season continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by 10-man Real Zaragoza, although it could have been worse for the Yellow Submarine as they needed a late equalizer to avoid defeat.
The visitors twice took the lead at El Madrigal, Luis Garcia opening the scoring in the 34th minute and then Pablo Barrera restoring their advantage on the stroke of half-time after Giuseppe Rossi had equalized for Villarreal.
It remained that way heading into the final 11 minutes, but the dismissal of Zaragoza defender Maurizio Lanzaro gave Villarreal a boost and substitute Hernan Perez salvaged a point with an 83rd-minute leveller.
Adrian scored Racing Santander's first goal since the opening weekend of the season to claim a 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano.
The former Getafe midfielder was brought on at half-time to replace Alexandros Tziolis and made almost an immediate impact as he slid in to divert Oscar Serrano's cross into the net.
Rayo had taken the lead in the first-half through Raul Tamudo, who took advantage of a slip by Bernardo in the home defence to run through and cleverly lob Tono Ramirez from a narrow angle.
Both sides had chances to win the match but Michu's header came back off the bar for the visitors and Adrian should have won it in the final minute - but he shot straight at Dani Gimenez.
Raul Garcia and Tomer Hemed both scored twice as Osasuna and 10-man Real Mallorca shared the points in an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Reyno de Navarra stadium.
Hemed scored his first-ever goal for the visitors from a penalty on 34 minutes after Miguel Flano had felled the Israeli just inside the area.
Garcia then headed the hosts level in first-half injury-time when he was left unmarked inside the six-yard box from Alvaro Cejudo's corner and he repeated the trick 15 minutes into the second period as he again met a Cejudo corner to flick a header past Dudu Aouate.
Mallorca were reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute as Emilio Nsue was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Roland Lamah, but they were given a second penalty only minutes later as Lamah appeared to clip the heels of Alejandro Alfaro and Hemed stepped up again to claim a point for his side.
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