MADRID, Spain - Frederic Kanoute, Christian Poulsen and Luis Fabiano scored Sunday for Sevilla to beat Valencia 3-0 in the Spanish league and give coach Manolo Jimenez a winning debut.
Kanoute took advantage of a defensive mishap to score his first league goal in more than a month in the 10th minute. Poulsen and Fabiano added goals late into the second half as Sevilla played with the flair that allowed it to win back-to-back UEFA Cup titles under the departed coach Juande Ramos.
Sevilla won consecutive league games for the first time in six weeks to improve to 12 points, 10 behind leader Real Madrid, which beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-1. Sevilla has played a game less.
Substitute Raul Gonzalez tapped a short pass from Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy past goalkeeper Dudu Aouate in the 79th for the winner at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
"Raul's entrance was decisive," Madrid coach Bernd Schuster said. "It was influential and it helped us achieve the win."
Substitute Lionel Messi scored his league-leading seventh goal and French international Thierry Henry added another as FC Barcelona beat Almeria 2-0 to keep pace with Real Madrid.
Messi converted from the penalty spot in the 81st after Bruno Saltar was booked for a foul on Mexican youngster Giovanni Dos Santos in the area.
Henry had earlier slotted home a bouncing rebound in the 37th after Dos Santos poked the ball free from goalkeeper David Cobeno.
Valencia and Villarreal, which lost to Zaragoza 4-1, both stayed at 18 points.
Atletico Madrid continued its best start for a decade with a 1-0 win over winless Levante, joining Espanyol with 17 points.
Also Sunday, it was Osasuna 2, Valladolid 2; Racing Santander 2, Getafe 0; and, Murcia 1, Recreativo Huelva 0.
Jimenez coached Sevilla's second-division team for seven years before replacing Ramos, who quit to join English club Tottenham Hotspur.
Poulsen hit a half-volley through Timo Hildebrand in the 71st, while Fabiano played a neat 1-2 with strike partner Renato in the 86th at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
Valencia failed to register a shot on goal.
Xisco Jimenez eluded German Christoph Metzelder to shoot under goalkeeper Iker Casillas and give Deportivo a 1-0 lead in the second minute.
Six minutes later, Van Nistelrooy scored from the penalty spot after being tripped by Andres Guardado.
Robinho, who hit the post from long range in the 71st, scored the third goal in the 89th. It was the Brazil forward's third in two games since being omitted from last week's loss at Espanyol after turning up late from international duty.
It was an important win for Madrid with matches against Valencia on Wednesday and Sevilla next weekend.
"With all of (the problems), I can see we are leaders with the most goals scored and least allowed ... but there are still areas we can improve on," Schuster said.
At the Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona threatened but didn't stretch Cobeno in the first half except for a save on Ronaldinho's curling free kick in the 33rd.
Cobeno stopped shots from Henry, Dos Santos and Andres Iniesta in the second half, while Messi scored seven minutes after coming on for Ronaldinho.
"Winning these types of games are fundamental since they are never easy and that keeps me happy at least," coach Frank Rijkaard said.
Sergio Garcia, Diego Milito, Oscar Gonzalez and Ricardo Oliveira all scored at La Romareda to lead Zaragoza over Villarreal, which lost its second straight game.
French international Robert Pires scored Villarreal's goal in the 82nd.
Uruguayan Diego Forlan met Sergio Aguero's chested pass in the 27th and poked it over onrushing goalkeeper Marco Storari for Atletico's winner.
Storari made two more stops in a 65th-minute goalmouth scramble as Atletico continued to improve on its best start since 1997-98.
Substitute Eduardo Fernandes Pereira "Dady" scored in the 73rd and 77th as Osasuna rallied.
Alvaro Rubio scored with a header in the 36th and Jonathan Sesma with a shot in the 52nd but Valladolid failed to hold for a fifth time this season.
Oscar Serrano and Jorge Lopez scored in the 40th and 75th, respectively, as Racing Santander moved up to eighth in the standings with 15 points.
Mario Regueiro headed Enrique De Lucas' corner kick in the 47th as Murcia improved to 12 points.
On Saturday, Daniel Guiza scored in the 69th minute as 10-man Mallorca rallied for a 2-2 draw against Espanyol, while Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis drew 0-0.
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