Tight at the top as Valencia sink Barca

Barcelona slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Valencia tonight to add another twist to a wide-open race for the Primera Liga title.

The Spanish champions lost out to second-half goals from Miguel Angel Angulo and David Silva as Valencia moved to within four points of the Catalans in the title race.

After Barca’s Deco and Valencia’s David Albelda were dismissed, Ronaldinho scored a late consolation for Frank Rijkaard’s side, who remain top of the league despite the defeat.

Sevilla took another step towards ending their 61-year wait for a league title by beating Atletico Madrid 3-1 to go joint top with Barca despite playing over half the match with 10 men.

A well-taken goal from Fredi Kanoute and Daniel Alves’ strike opened up a 2-0 lead, and after Jose Luis Marti was dismissed shortly before half-time, Kanoute completed his brace before Pablo Ibanez grabbed a consolation.

At the other end of the table, late goals from Luis Garcia and Eduardo Costa gave Espanyol an important 3-1 victory over relegation rivals Mallorca at Montjuic.