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First half goals from Guti, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo set up Real Madrid for their seventh consecutive win in Liga and cup matches, a 4-0 home victory against Espanyol. Real were in complete control against a poor Espanyol side and with the first chance of the match Guti opened the scoring.

By half-time the home team were three up with further goals from Zidane and Ronaldo, and the Frenchman scored again to make it four early in the second half. New Malaga coach Manuel Ruiz Hierro began his reign with a 2-1 win as his struggling side took a small step towards Primera Liga survival at the expense of relegation rivals Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Defender Carlos Litos had given the home side a first-half lead but the sides headed into the break level as Aritz Aduritz scored for Athletic. Perez Nacho then saw red for Malaga before Salva Ballesta scored the crucial goal as the home side held on to take a valuable three points. David Villa's goal helped second-placed Valencia move within nine points of leaders Barcelona by beating Deportivo La Coruna 1-0. Barca play Atletico Madrid on Sunday.