Madrid - Espanyol continued their impressive rescue act on Sunday by beating fourth-placed Valencia 3-0, with second-half goals from South Americans Roman Martinez, Nicolas Pareja and Nene. Martinez broke the deadlock in the 66th minute with a fierce left- foot drive, Pareja made it 2-0 with a clever free-kick eight minutes from time.
Nene completed the rout with an injury-time penalty, after Francisco Rufete had been pulled down in the box.
Valencia had dominated possession in the first half, but Euro 2008 heroes David Villa and David Silva were uninspired.
"Today we have taken another small step towards survival," said Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has pulled off a minor miracle since taking over from Mane in February.
Espanyol - who have won five of their last six games - are now seventh from bottom and on the way to salvation.
Valencia, for their part, stay in fourth place, but are now four points behind third-placed Sevilla, who won 2-0 away to Villarreal on Saturday.
Villarreal are fifth, just one point behind local rivals Valencia.
The situation at the bottom is now a little clearer after a Sunday of grim relegation battles.
The grimmest battle of all was fought in Pamplona, where Recreativo Huelva came from behind to battle out a valuable 2-1 away win.
Veteran Uruguayan striker Walter Pandinai had given Osasuna an early lead and Huelva seemed doomed to stay rock bottom. But late goals from defenders Ersen Martin and Nasief Morris turned the tables on the hosts and gave Huelva an unlikely win.
"It was really important for us to win today," said Martin, "though we still have a lot of hard work to do."
Huelva are now second from bottom, on 33 points, two points above bottom team Numancia, who beat Malaga 2-0 on Saturday.
Then come Sporting Gijon and Getafe, both on 34 points.
Gijon seemed to be on their way to a tight home win over Athletic Bilbao, after Mate Bilic had given them the lead on the hour. But international defender Fernando Amorebieta levelled for Bilbao right at the end, to the chagrin of the long-suffering fans in the Estadio Molinon.
Getafe, meanwhile, were going down 2-1 away to Mallorca, on a late goal from Aritz Aduriz.
Former Real Madrid and Spain star Michel made a hapless debut on the Getafe bench, having taking over from Victor Munoz on Tuesday.
"I still believe that this team can save itself," said Michel at the end, "though we do have several important mistakes to correct."
Then come Osasuna on 36, Betis on 37 and Espanyol on 38.
In Sunday's other early game, Deportivo Coruna moved up to sixth by beating Valladolid 1-0, on a goal from the in-form Niouol Lassad.
Sunday's late game will see struggling Betis at home to Atletico Madrid, who need to win in order to keep alive their slim European hopes.
