La Liga Table 2017 Week 4: Standings and Final Scores After Sunday

Real Madrid inflicted a first La Liga defeat of the season on Real Sociedad to move into fourth place in the table, four points behind leaders Barcelona, after a 3-1 win on Sunday.

Sevilla are second after beating Girona, to make it three wins from their first four games, while Alaves' dreadful start continued as they were beaten 3-0 at home by Villarreal.

Sunday's only other game saw Las Palmas beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 thanks to a superb goal from Loic Remy.

Sunday's La Liga Results

Alaves 0-3 Villarreal

Girona 0-1 Sevilla

Las Palmas 1-0 Athletic Bilbao

Real Sociedad 1-3 Real Madrid   

La Liga Table (Goal Difference)

1. Barcelona 12 (+10)

2. Sevilla 10 (+5)

3. Real Sociedad 9 (+4)

4. Real Madrid 8 (+5)

5. Atletico Madrid 8 (+5)

6. Athletic Bilbao 7 (+2)

7. Villarreal 6 (+1)

8. Levante 6 (+1)

9. Valencia 6 (+1)

10. Leganes 6 (0)

11. Las Palmas 6 (-2)

12. Real Betis 6 (-2)

13. Eibar 6 (-2)

14. Getafe 4 (-1)

15. Girona 4 (-2)

16. Celta Vigo 3 (-1)

17. Deportivo La Coruna 1 (-6)

18. Espanyol 1 (-6)

19. Malaga 0 (-5)

20. Alaves 0 (-7)

Recap

Real Madrid were forced into changes for the trip to Sociedad, with Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo suspended and several other key players missing due to injury.

ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan neatly summarised the absentees:

Borja Mayoral wasted no time in impressing, opening the scoring after 19 minutes from a lay-off in the box from Sergio Ramos.

Yet the hosts were level within 10 minutes. Kevin Rodrigues fired across goal, and despite his shot lacking power, it still managed to trickle through goalkeeper Keylor Navas' fingers.

There was then a break in play as a cameraman was treated behind the goal before being stretchered off, per UEFA's Laure James:

Socieded then almost took the lead. Rodrigues' shot hit the bar before Madrid broke, with Mayoral crossing and a sliding Rodrigues diverting the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Madrid had to wait until the hour mark to pull further ahead, as Gareth Bale latched on to a simple ball over the top and outpaced Rodrigues before poking home to make it 3-1.

The Wales international certainly seems to enjoy playing at Anoeta, as noted by Corrigan:

Madrid then saw the game out comfortably in an impressive win against a previously unbeaten side, particularly with so many key players missing the match.

Ahead of Madrid are Sevilla, who are flying high in the table after seeing off Girona thanks to a single goal from Luis Muriel, his first for the club.

Eduardo Berizzo's side remain unbeaten although are yet to really convince this season, according to Spanish football writer David Cartlidge:

Meanwhile, Alaves have become the first Liga club to fire their coach after Luis Zubeldia was sacked following their loss to Villarreal on Sunday, per Marca.

The defeat was the club's fourth in four games and they are yet to score, leading to Zubeldia's departure, as noted by football writer Kieran Canning:

Two goals from Cedric Bakumbu and another from Carlos Bacca gave Villarreal all three points as they made it three wins in a row in all competitions.

Las Palmas were also winners on Sunday, with Remy continuing his bright start to the season and scoring a fine solo goal, finishing a strong run with a fierce shot.

The former Chelsea striker has hit the ground running in Spain, scoring twice already and impressing off the bench, according to football writer Simon Harrison:

La Liga now returns to action in midweek with another round of fixtures.

Leaders Barcelona welcome Eibar to Camp Nou on Tuesday, while Real Madrid host Real Betis on Wednesday.