Barcelona up to third after late win at Elche

Barcelona moved up to third place in LaLiga after Memphis Depay’s late penalty secured a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Elche.

Having gone a goal down just prior to the break via a Fidel finish, Xavi’s Barca equalised on the hour mark thanks to Ferran Torres and Depay then struck the winner from the spot with six minutes of normal time remaining following an Antonio Barragan handball.

Elche subsequently finished the game with 10 men after Javier Pastore was shown a red card.

Champions Atletico Madrid also rose a place to fourth as Joao Felix’s brace helped them to a 3-1 victory at Real Betis, who slip to fifth. Felix scored in the second and 61st minutes, either side of Cristian Tello’s reply for Betis in first-half stoppage time, and Thomas Lemar wrapped things up for Diego Simeone’s men with 10 minutes remaining.

Both Barcelona and Atletico are seven points behind second-placed Sevilla, with Barca holding a game in hand. Betis are two points worse off.

A penalty from Iago Aspas deep into stoppage time saw Celta Vigo emerge triumphant from a seven-goal thriller as they beat Mallorca 4-3 at Abanca-Balaidos.

Salva Sevilla looked to have secured a point for the away side with an 87th-minute spot-kick, Mallorca’s third equaliser of the contest, after a Hugo Mallo handball that saw him sent off.

But Aspas then converted from 12 yards for his second goal of the game in the seventh minute of additional time, while Manolo Reina was dismissed for Mallorca.

Cadiz are a point from safety in 18th after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-0 at home, with Ruben Alcaraz and Oussama Idrissi getting on the scoresheet.

In Serie A, AC Milan replaced Inter Milan at the summit following a 1-0 win at Napoli sealed by Olivier Giroud four minutes into the second half.

Stefano Pioli’s side are two points clear of Inter having played a game more, while Napoli are a further point behind in third.

Fourth-placed Juventus are four points behind Napoli having beaten Spezia 1-0 at home courtesy of Alvaro Morata’s first-half finish.

Fiorentina and Hellas Verona, eighth and ninth respectively, battled out a 1-1 draw in Florence, with Krzysztof Piatek’s early opener for the hosts cancelled out by a Gianluca Caprari penalty, and Domenico Berardi notched a brace of spot-kicks as Sassuolo won 4-1 at Venezia.

Second-bottom Genoa registered a sixth successive draw as it ended 0-0 at home against Empoli, and it was the same scoreline between Bologna and Torino.

In Ligue 1, third-placed Marseille were defeated 1-0 at home by Monaco, with Gelson Martins netting in the 58th minute.

Rennes are a point behind Marseille in fourth after beating Angers 2-0 at Roazhon Park, where Benjamin Bourigeaud and Gaetan Laborde were the goalscorers.

Fifth-placed Strasbourg were held 1-1 at Reims following Jens Cajuste’s late leveller, Nantes are sixth after second-half goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Willem Geubbels steered them to a 2-0 home win over Montpellier, and Lille moved up to seventh with a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Clermont at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

St Etienne rose out of the relegation zone, pushing Lorient in, after a Denis Bouanga goal secured a 1-0 home win over Metz, who are now second bottom, while basement boys Bordeaux lost 2-0 at home to Troyes.

In the day’s sole Bundesliga fixture, Stefan Posch’s header earned Hoffenheim a 1-0 win at Cologne that took them up to fourth, replacing RB Leipzig.