Barcelona needed a stoppage-time goal by Sergio Busquets to secure a 1-0 win at Valencia on a day Spanish football was rocked by the death of a fan after a violent clash between rival supporters.
A 43-year-old fan of Deportivo La Coruna died of injuries sustained on Sunday in a street fight that broke out between Deportivo and Atletico Madrid supporters hours before their match in Madrid.
Elsewhere in Europe, the defending champions in England and Italy both earned victories.
Manchester City moved into second place in England with a win over Southampton, while Andrea Pirlo also netted an injury-time winner for Juventus.
La Liga
Barcelona remained two points behind leader Real Madrid after Busquets blasted in a rebound in the final seconds of injury time at Mestalla Stadium.
Lionel Messi started Barcelona’s game-clinching move with a lobbed pass that Neymar header powerfully at goalkeeper Diego Alves, who did well to turn back the ball only for Busquets to drill it right back past him.
Messi appeared to be hit in the head by a water bottle thrown from the stands while his teammates piled on top of one another to celebrate the winning goal. The Argentine rubbed his head following the incident but was unhurt.
Third-place Atletico prevailed 2-0 over Deportivo in a game that finished shortly before Madrid’s Clinico San Carlos hospital announced that a man had died of injuries sustained after a fight erupted between rival groups early on Sunday morning near its Vicente Calderon stadium. The man was identified only as a 43-year-old Deportivo fan.
Sevilla moved ahead of Valencia into fourth place after routing visitors Granada 5-1.
Premier League
City dislodged Southampton from second place with a 3-0 victory at the south-coast club in the Premier League, while Tottenham produced another comeback to beat Everton 2-1.
City was frustrated in the first half at St. Mary’s, but Yaya Toure, Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy eventually all found the net. The last two goals came with City down to 10 men following Eliaquim Mangala’s 74th-minute dismissal.
Tottenham is just two points from the Champions League places after beating Everton. Goals from Roberto Soldado and Christian Eriksen scored saw Tottenham come from behind to win 2-1 for the third time in four league games.
Serie A
Pirlo scored deep into stoppage time as 10-man Juventus snatched a 2-1 win over Torino in a derby match.
Roma also kept pace with the league leader with a 4-2 win over Inter Milan.
Bruno Peres’ goal had looked set to end the Bianconeri’s 24-match winning streak at Juventus Stadium in Turin, after he ran almost the entire length of the pitch before levelling with a delightful finish to cancel out Arturo Vidal’s penalty.
Gervinho, Jose Holebas and Miralem Pjanic (two) scored for Roma, which was twice pegged back with goals from Andrea Ranocchia and former striker Pablo Osvaldo.
Genoa moved provisionally into third place as it cruised to a 3-0 win at Cesena, while AC Milan earned a 2-0 victory at home to Udinese in a match which saw both teams reduced to 10 men.
Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga troubles worsened with a 2-0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt that left the 2011 and 2012 champion in last place after 13 games.
Alexander Meier’s league-leading eighth goal of the season in the fourth minute and Haris Seferovic’s strike in the 78th were enough to hand Dortmund its eighth league loss.
While Dortmund slumped, Robin Knoche’s first-half strike was enough for Wolfsburg to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0, underlining the side’s credentials as the closest challenger to Bayern Munich.
LIgue 1
Saint-Etienne ended a run of five straight draws with a 3-0 win against third-place Lyon in the French league to move within one point of its local rival.
The win puts fifth-place Saint-Etienne one point behind Bordeaux and Lyon, which leads Bordeaux on goal difference.
Bordeaux beat Lille 1-0 thanks to Mali striker Cheick Diabate’s sixth goal of the season.
Evian earned a welcome win in its relegation fight by beating fellow struggler Guingamp 2-0.
