La Liga Results 2018 Week 29: Final Scores and Updated Table After Saturday

Valencia propelled their way past Real Madrid and up to third in La Liga on Saturday after they defeated Alaves 3-1 at the Mestalla, temporarily climbing two points above the defending champions.

Simone Zaza set up an early opener for Rodrigo Moreno before doubling Los Che's lead himself, and Victor Laguardia turned the ball into his own net after Ruben Sobrino pulled one back for Alaves.

Real Sociedad surrendered a 1-0 lead to hand Getafe their first road victory of the year, winning 2-1 in Basque country to end a run of 12 consecutive away matches without a win.

Real Betis beat Espanyol 3-0 to clinch their third win in five matches, although the victory wasn't enough to lift Los Verdiblancos out of eighth place.

Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna couldn't make any progress in their relegation faceoff against Las Palmas, who stayed 19th and 18th in the standings, respectively, following a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Riazor.

Read on for a recap of Saturday's La Liga action, complete with an updated breakdown of the Spanish top-flight standings.

Saturday's Week 29 Scores

Deportivo La Coruna 1-1 Las Palmas

Valencia 3-1 Alaves

Real Sociedad 1-2 Getafe

Real Betis 3-0 Espanyol

La Liga Standings (Goal Difference)

1. Barcelona 72 (59)

2. Atletico Madrid 64 (36)

3. Valencia 59 (26)

4. Real Madrid 57 (37)

5. Sevilla 45 (-6)

6. Villarreal 44 (6)

7. Girona 43 (4)

8. Real Betis 43 (-4)

9. Getafe 39 (8)

10. Eibar 39 (-7)

11. Celta Vigo 38 (3)

12. Athletic Bilbao 35 (-2)

13. Espanyol 35 (-11)

14. Leganes 33 (-11)

15. Real Sociedad 33 (-1)

16. Alaves 31 (-19)

17. Levante 27 (-18)

18. Las Palmas 21 (-37)

19. Deportivo de La Coruna 20 (-34)

20. Malaga 13 (-29) 

Visit the Sky Sports website for a look at the standings in full.

Recap

Rodrigo's hot streak of form continued at home to Alaves on Saturday as the Valencia attacker prodded the Mestalla hosts into a lead after 19 minutes, with creator Zaza following up shortly after with one of his own.

Los Che had won five of their last six matches coming into Saturday's clash, their recent 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao being the only one in which they had failed. Luckily, Zaza beat Alaves' offside trap to tap in a second on 34 minutes as Spanish football writer Simon Harrison praised the performance:

Valencia's defence fell asleep shortly after the break, when Sobrino converted a Martin Aguirregabiria cross almost unopposed in the area.

Their elation lasted only five minutes, though, as Laguardia restored Valencia's two-goal cushion when he was unable to adjust his feet quickly enough and pushed the ball into his own net.

Real Betis had a pair of homegrown full-backs to thank for two of their three goals against Espanyol, and Junior Firpo cemented the team's spot as kings of La Liga's airwaves with his headed opener, per OptaJose:

Ryad Boudebouz dribbled his way in for a sumptuous second, darting past defenders on the edge of the box before rasping in a left-footed strike from just inside the area.

Francis was the other wing-back to have spent time in the Betis academy before graduating to the first team who got in on the act, completing a 3-0 rout that puts Quique Setien's side within distance of European qualification.

Sociedad weren't as successful in their attempt to defend home borders and succumbed 2-1 to a Getafe team that hadn't won away from their Madrid home this calendar year coming into the clash.

Fresh from his first call-up to Brazil's national team, Willian Jose netted his 18th goal of the season, but Djene Dakonam and Angel Rodriguez responded for Getafe as football writer David Cartlidge bemoaned La Real's fall:

Deportivo made it all too easy for Alen Halilovic to open the scoring for Las Palmas at Riazor in Saturday's early kick-off, with the Croat intercepting on halfway before searing toward the hosts' box and curling in a shock opener.

Neither team made progress in their fight against relegation, however, after Raul Albentosa replied to the third-minute breakthrough when he headed in from a Lucas Perez corner to share the spoils.