La Liga Table 2016: Sunday's Week 9 Results and Updated Standings

Alvaro Morata's late winner against Athletic Club ensured Real Madrid became the sole La Liga leaders in Week 9, as Atletico Madrid slumped to a 1-0 loss against Sevilla.

Los Blancos beat Bilbao 2-1 and now sit one point ahead of Sevilla and two ahead of Barcelona. Atletico drop to fifth, one point behind the Catalans and Villarreal.

Here's a look at Sunday's results:

Celta Vigo	4-1	Deportivo La Coruna
Sevilla	1-0	Atletico Madrid
Malaga	4-0	Leganes
Villarreal	2-1	Las Palmas
Real Madrid	2-1	Athletic Club

Here are the current La Liga standings:

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Real Madrid	9	6	3	0	24	9	+15	21
2	Sevilla	9	6	2	1	17	12	+5	20
3	Barcelona	9	6	1	2	29	12	+17	19
4	Villarreal	9	5	4	0	16	5	+11	19
5	Atletico Madrid	9	5	3	1	21	4	+17	18
6	Athletic Club	9	5	0	4	14	12	+2	15
7	Real Sociedad	9	4	1	4	14	12	+2	13
8	Celta Vigo	9	4	1	4	13	17	-4	13
9	Las Palmas	9	3	3	3	17	15	+2	12
10	Malaga	9	3	3	3	12	10	+2	12
11	Eibar	9	3	3	3	14	13	+1	12
12	Real Betis	9	3	2	4	11	19	-8	11
13	Alaves	9	2	4	3	9	11	-2	10
14	Leganes	9	3	1	5	9	17	-8	10
15	Valencia	9	3	0	6	13	18	-5	9
16	Deportivo La Coruna	9	2	2	5	6	14	-8	8
17	Sporting Gijon	9	2	2	5	7	18	-11	8
18	Espanyol	9	1	5	3	12	17	-5	8
19	Osasuna	9	1	3	5	11	19	-8	6
20	Granada	9	0	3	6	8	23	-15	3

Recap

Sevilla continued their fantastic form with a 1-0 win over former leaders Atletico, with Steven N'Zonzi scoring the only goal.

The Rojiblancos struggled to break down Sevilla's compact defence, and the hosts struck on a fantastic counter, with N'Zonzi using his strength to hold off two defenders before firing home.

Squawka's Muhammad Butt was impressed:

Manager Diego Simeone found no answers for the Andalusians' defence and made several questionable decisions, including the substitution of in-form Yannick Carrasco, one of the few who seemed capable of creating anything on Sunday.

Atletico's efforts weren't helped when Koke ran into a second yellow card, reducing the team to 10 men. Per WhoScored.com, he's not known for foul play:

Per Atletico's official website, Simeone thought efficiency was the difference:

"

They could finish a good scoring chance. I think that we had moments in the first half in which we could have broken the game. In the second half, they started better, that is why Tiago came out. The match continued on the same path and then the goal was scored.

We did not finish well in our chances to score, but that is what we work for. I leave knowing the team played for what we were looking for.

"

Real Madrid needed a late winner from Morata to beat a feisty Athletic Bilbao team 2-1 and reclaim the top spot in the standings.

Karim Benzema gave the team an early lead but some defensive mishaps allowed Sabin Merino to tie things up after 28 minutes. The striker had all kinds of time to equalise, and the Blancos defence did not look good during the sequence, per Agence France-Presse's Kieran Canning:

Both teams had their chances to grab a lead after that, with Inaki Williams twice failing after coming head-to-head with Keylor Navas. It was Morata who eventually found the winner, scoring on his second try with less than 10 minutes on the clock.

Bleacher Report's Karl Matchett was confused by the outcome of the match:

Villarreal overcame an early deficit against a surging Las Palmas team, as Nicola Sansone and Cedric Bakambu scored in the final 30 minutes to give the Yellow Submarine a 2-1 win.

The result leaves Villarreal just two points out of the lead, as things remain tight at the top of the standings.

Malaga and Celta Vigo both cruised to one-sided wins against Leganes and Deportivo La Coruna, respectively. Deportivo desperately need to turn their season around, as the Galicians sit dangerously close to the relegation zone after nine weeks.