FC Barcelona suffered its second defeat of the season after being strangled 1-0 by Real Sociedad.
The result left Barca six points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, but Madrid has a game in hand.
Sherardo Becker's first-time finish to the far corner of the net was enough to gift Real Sociedad all three points, a reward for the best performance of the season from the San Sebastian-based side against below-par Barcelona, reported Xinhua.
Before the game, Hansi Flick's team took a blow as Lamine Yamal was released before kickoff for an ankle injury to the youngster, and Frenkie de Jong got injured out on the pitch.
The visit of Barcelona had been putting high pressure as that which has defined it this season, and without the attribute, its high defensive line was exposed to Real Sociedad, who made some effective use of Becker, Take Kubo, and Mikel Oyarzabal.
Real Sociedad were equally as disciplined and dedicated to defense, and it says a lot for the performance that even though Robert Lewandowski saw a first-half effort chalked off for offside by the tightest of margins, Barcelona failed to have any legal effort on target all game.
Vinicius Jr's hat-trick saw Real Madrid back to winning ways with a 4-0 win at home to Osasuna, while Jude Bellingham scored the other.
This was worrying for Real Madrid as it came at a cost with central defender Eder Militao suffering a season-ending cruciate ligament tear while full-back Lucas Vazquez and forward Rodrygo suffered muscle injuries.
It was Villarreal's 3-0 home victory over Alaves which was given extra sheen by two goals in the last ten minutes as the home side turned on the style in the second half.
Ilias Akhomach opened the scoring with a turn and left-footed shot in the 38th minute, before he fell victim to a torn knee ligament.
Dani Parejo's 81st-minute penalty and Santi Comesana's finish from another swift break rounded off a convincing win.
Julian Alvarez's second-half goal on an assist from Giuliano Simeone gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win in Mallorca.
Mallorca will be frustrated both with defending that allowed the home team such a too-easy route to the goal and for creating none of the many openings it did create in the course of the game, but Jan Oblak once again had done his utmost for Atletico to keep out.
Real Betis twice came back from behind to secure a 2-2 draw with Celta through Marc Bartra's diving header in the 95th minute.
Javi Rodriguez gave Celta the lead in the 13th minute, but loanee Vitor Roque levelled five minutes remaining of the half when he side-footed home a pass from Johnny Cardoso.
An unmarked Anastasios Douvikas put Celta back ahead at the far post eight minutes remaining to play, but Bartra rescued a point at the death for Betis.
ACROBATIC GIF BY GORKA GURUZETA spared Athletic Bilbao a painful loss at Valladolid when it looked like the home team was headed for its second home win of the campaign after Raul Moro's 79th minute header.
Athletic neither created many clear-cut opportunities throughout the match, where they looked clearly tired having played Thursday night in the UEFA Europa League in Bulgaria.
Yangel Herrera's 42nd-minute header gave Girona a vital win away at Getafe, who have gained but one success all season and could tumble into the bottom three if Valencia and Espanyol win their games in hand, after their weekend clash had been postponed.
A penalty from Miguel de la Fuente in the 81st minute saw Leganes take three vital points in a 1-0 win at home against Sevilla, the latter ending with ten men after Lucien Agoume was red-carded for the spot kick that settled a tactical game.
Las Palmas gave themselves the chance of hope on Friday night, making it three wins from four games and getting out of the relegation zone through a 3-1 away win against Rayo Vallecano.
A Fabio Silva header in the first half, an Aridane own goal in the 62nd minute, and Manu Fuster five minutes on brought Las Palmas a third crucial win under new coach Diego Martinez.
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