Madrid: Villarreal came back to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at home and keep the pressure on Real Madrid and Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Juan Carlos Garrido's side climbed to second with 23 points from 10 games, level with unbeaten leaders Real, who host Atletico Madrid in the city derby in Sunday's late game.
Champions Barcelona, one point back in third, were playing away at Getafe.
Bilbao's Spain striker Fernando Llorente scored with a backpost header after only six minutes at the Madrigal, but Villarreal turned the game around before the break.
Brazilian Nilmar levelled with a header in the 39th and Spain's Santi Cazorla capitalised on a poor clearance to net six minutes later.
Bilbao had defender Jon Aurtenetxe sent off in the 77th for a second bookable offence, and Italy's Giuseppe Rossi and Ecuador's Jefferson Montero scored breakaway goals at the end.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, November 08, 2010, 09:17