Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Barcelona moved up to second in the Primera Division standings, behind Real Madrid on goal difference, with a 3-1 triumph over Eibar at the Nou Camp.
The Basque minnows took a shock lead after just eight minutes through in-form Atletico Madrid loanee Borja Baston.
But Suarez levelled midway through the first half and then struck at the start and end of the second period to complete his treble and seal the points for Barca, who had Javier Mascherano sent off late on.
Luis Enrique's side joined arch rivals Real - 3-1 winners at Celta Vigo on Saturday - on 21 points at the summit, while Eibar went away reflecting on their second league defeat of the season.
In the late kick-off, Atletico defeated Valencia 2-1 to stay within two points of Real and Barca.
The home side's pressure grew during the first half and goals from Jackson Martinez and Yannick Carrasco were the least they deserved.
A 72nd-minute penalty from Paco Alcacer gave Los Che hope of stealing a point, but the hosts held on.
Villarreal earlier fell further off the title pace as they were held to a drab 0-0 draw at lowly Las Palmas.
The Yellow Submarine slipped four points behind the top two, while Las Palmas moved up to third from bottom - ahead of Granada and Levante on goal difference.
David Moyes' Real Sociedad climbed clear of the relegation zone and up to 14th with a thumping 4-0 win at 10-man Levante.
Carlos Vela set the visitors on their way and rounded off the scoring late in the second half, while Imanol Agirretxe netted before half-time to double the visitors' lead and Asier Illarramendi grabbed his first goal since returning to the club.
PA
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