Real Madrid proved that they can win without Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday by beating Racing Santander 3-1 away, with two goals from Karim Benzema after Emmanuel Adebayor had given them the lead.
The impressive win, in which both teams missed a penalty, left them seven points behind runaway leaders Barcelona, who beat Zaragoza 1-0 at home on Saturday.
It was Real's first league match without Ronaldo - who has a pulled hamstring - for a year but they actually seemed to play better without him, with a more collective spirit.
Their new leader was Mesut Oezil, who set up Adebayor to score the first goal after 23 minutes of domination. Just four minutes later Oezil played through Benzema to make it 2-0 with a precise finish.
Santander came out of the second half with a little more aggression, and in the 51st minute Giovani - on loan from Tottenham - was pulled down for a penalty by Xabi Alonso. However, Real keeper Iker Casillas had few problems in saving the weak spot-kick of Pablo Pinillos.
Swedish midfielder Kennedy pulled a goal back for the hosts 20 minutes from time after being played through by Mehdi Lacen, but Benzema restored Real's two-goal lead five minutes later after a swift counter-attack masterminded by Angel Di Maria.
Di Maria was then pulled down for a penalty by Marc Torrejon, but Santander keeper Tono emulated Casillas by saving the penalty of Adebayor.
It was Santander's first defeat under coach Marcelino Garcia, who took over in January, and left them in 13th place, just above the relegation fray.
Real, for their part, are now 14 points ahead of third-placed Valencia, who won 2-1 at Mallorca on Saturday. Valencia are four points ahead of fourth team Villarreal, who crashed 3-1 at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Athletic Bilbao moved up to fifth on Sunday by beating luckless Sevilla 2-0, thanks to a clumsy own goal from Federico Fazio plus a late penalty coverted by Andoni Iraola.
The win left Bilbao with 41 points from 27 games. They are nine points behind fourth-placed Villarreal but one ahead of Espanyol, who lost 1-0 away to Levante on Sunday on a goal from the in-form Felipe Caicedo.
Sevilla, for their part, stayed seventh with 38 points.
Earlier on Sunday, Almeria had moved off the bottom with a 2-1 comeback win away to fellow strugglers Hercules, who are in awful form.
Abraham Paz headed Hercules into the lead six minutes into the second half, only for Almeria to turn the tables with late goals from Sofiane Feghouli and Modesto M'Bami.
Two other struggling sides who threw themselves a lifeline on Sunday were Sporting Gijon and Osasuna.
Gijon scored a 2-0 home win over dull Getafe, thanks to first-half goals from Miguel de las Cuevas and Diego Castro.
Osasuna, for their part, scored a late 1-0 win away to fellow strugglers Malaga, who are back on bottom. Veteran defender Sergio Fernandez headed in the crucial away goal in stoppage time.
Malaga are now bottom with just 23 points from 27 games. Then come Almeria on 25, Hercules on 26, Zaragoza on 27, and Deportivo Coruna and Gijon level on 28.
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