Dos Santos helps Villarreal beat Valencia 4-1

Barcelona: Mexico forward Giovani Dos Santos scored two goals and set up the opener as Villarreal rolled past Valencia 4-1 to strengthen their hold on fourth place in the Spanish league.

The home victory in the regional derby lifted Villarreal to within two points of third-place Real Madrid after they lost 2-1 at leader Barcelona on Saturday.

Also, Sevilla beat 10-man Osasuna 2-1 for a third straight win in league play.

Dos Santos leads Villarreal with six goals through 10 rounds. That makes him the fourth leading scorer in Spain's first division after Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa with 10 goals and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo with eight apiece.

Dos Santos crossed for striker Ikechuwku Uche to steer the ball in at the far post and get Villarreal started in the 17th minute.

Villarreal's passing game undid Valencia's pressure before Ruben "Cani" Gracia sent in another cross to the second post for Hernan Perez to head home and double the lead five minutes later.

Dos Santos hit the post and had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Vicente Guita after Jeremy Mathieu tripped Uche in the area, but he made up for his missed spot kick with a deft flick with his back to the net to score from the resulting corner kick in the 49th.

After Ricardo Costa headed in Valencia's lone goal in the 63rd, Dos Santos polished off his outstanding performance with a long left-footed strike to beat Guaita in the 84th.

Osasuna lost a player in the 34th at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium when defender Damia Abella got a direct red card for pulling down Kevin Gameiro from behind with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Osasuna held Sevilla at bay until midfielder Ivan Rakitic broke through in the 55th by volleying in Stephane Mbia's lobbed pass for his team-leading fifth goal in league play this season.

Sevilla forward Jairo Samperio hit on the break in the 75th, in-between teammate Carlos Bacca's two shots off the goalframe.

Osasuna striker Oriol Riera headed in a consolation goal three minutes from time.

"Rakitic is our captain, and you noticed that both on and off the pitch," Jairo said. "He is our leader and makes everything go for us."