MADRID, Spain (AP) — Albert Riera and Raul Tamudo scored Saturday to give Espanyol a 2-1 win over Real Madrid, inflicting the Spanish league leader’s first defeat of the season.
Earlier, FC Barcelona also lost for the first time — 3-1 at Villarreal — a result that dropped it to fourth place and ended its six-game winning streak in all competitions.
In other matches, Valencia beat Deportivo La Coruna 4-2, while Sevilla won 2-0 at Levante to end a run of four straight defeats.
Defending champion Madrid leads the league with 19 points. Villarreal and Valencia have 18, with Villarreal ahead on goal difference. Barcelona has 17. Espanyol comes next with 16.
Bernd Schuster’s team started the game at Espanyol having made its best opening since the 1991-92 season, but fell behind in the first minute when midfielder Riera headed home from Luis Garcia’s corner.
Espanyol doubled its lead in the 52nd minute courtesy of team captain Tamudo’s subtle chip, which cleared goalkeeper Iker Casillas and floated into the goal.
Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, playing his 100th match for Madrid, reduced the home side’s lead with an acrobatic shot in the 90th.
Espanyol’s victory was its fourth straight, the first time the Barcelona-based team has achieved the feat since 1999.
Barcelona went down at El Madrigal stadium to Marcos Senna’s two first-half penalty kicks and Santi Cazorla’s opening strike, which moved Villarreal into second place and maintained its best start to a season.
Barcelona got a goal from 17-year-old forward Bojan Krkic, who was making his full league debut in place of Brazilian star Ronaldinho.
Barcelona lacked five injured players — Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o, Mexico defender Rafael Marquez and Italy defender Gianluca Zambrotta, together with midfielders Yaya Toure and Edmilson.
Also, Ronaldinho was left out after only arriving back from international duty with Brazil the previous day.
Barcelona trailed from the third minute when Cazorla cut in from the left before passing to Guillermo Franco. The Mexico forward backheeled the ball into Cazorla’s path and the midfielder sidefooted the ball past Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Worse came for coach Frank Rijkaard’s team 10 minutes later when midfielder Senna scored his first penalty after former France midfielder Robert Pires had been tripped by his compatriot Eric Abidal.
Bojan scored his first league goal to cut Villarreal’s lead in the 24th after receiving Lionel Messi’s defence-splitting pass and firing a low shot just inside the post. Bojan is now the youngest Barcelona player to score in the league.
However, Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito then upended Pires, allowing Senna with the chance to convert again in the 35th and restore his team’s two-goal cushion.
Barcelona’s problems worsened in the 71st minute when midfielder Deco left the field with what appeared to be a left thigh muscle injury. News reports said the Portugal international would be sidelined for five weeks.
Valencia made up for defeats against Espanyol and Chelsea in its previous two games to gain a comfortable victory over struggling Deportivo, which has scored only five goals in eight games this season.
With striker David Villa sidelined through injury, Joaquin Sanchez took over penalty duties, converting in the ninth minute to give Valencia the lead.
Midfielder Ruben Baraja extended the lead in the 15th when he scored from close range following a well-worked move by the visitors.
Deportivo forward Xisco Jimenez then took advantage of a mistake by Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares — making his return from injury — to score in the 29th.
The home team’s hopes of a comeback were dashed by Valencia striker Fernando Morientes’ headed goals in the 38th and 74th.
Substitute Rodolfo Bodipo scored Deportivo’s second goal in the 88th, shortly before Valencia defender Ivan Helguera was ejected after receiving a second yellow card.
The new coach of last-place Levante, Italian Giovanni De Biasi, made a dismal start to his tenure as his team conceded two goals to Luis Fabiano in the opening 14 minutes.
De Biasi, who replaced the fired Abel Resino on Oct. 11, saw the Brazilian forward control Daniel Alves’ pass before firing home in the seventh minute and then score a penalty after Inaki Descarga handled.
On Sunday, it’s Atletico Madrid versus Zaragoza; Almeria versus Osasuna; Recreativo Huelva versus Mallorca; Getafe versus Murcia; Real Betis versus Racing Santander; Valladolid versus Athletic Bilbao.