Midfielder Stephane M'Bia scored two goals as Sevilla beat visitors Deportivo La Coruna 4-1 in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Also, Moi Gomez scored back-to-back goals in two minutes to help Villarreal win 3-1 at 10-man Celta Vigo, dealing the hosts their first loss of the season.
While M'Bia got his double, forward Gerard Deulofeu steered Sevilla with three assists as it climbed past Atletico Madrid into third place.
M'Bia had scored in injury time to salvage a 2-2 draw for Sevilla at Rijeka in the Europa League on Thursday, and the Cameroon international continued his scoring run by heading in Deulofeu's corner kick in the 24th minute.
Deportivo's Haris Medunjanin curled in a free kick to equalise seven minutes later, but it was all Sevilla the rest of the way as Deportivo fell apart.
Deulofeu set up Carlos Bacca for the striker's fifth league goal with a lobbed pass in the 39th.
Bacca then found M'Bia in the 57th to fire his second goal in off the post, and Deulofeu passed for the unmarked Victor "Vitolo" Machin to round off the lopsided victory in the 63rd.
"It was really important to win today because we lost 4-0 at Atletico (in the last round)," said M'Bia.
Sevilla could have won by an even wider margin. Benoit Tremoulinas hit the crossbar in the 33rd, and Deportivo goalkeeper German Lux made amends for fouling Bacca in the area by saving his penalty kick in the 68th.
Deportivo's fourth straight loss left them in last place with one win through seven rounds since their return to the top flight. They have been outscored 15-5 during their losing streak.
Deportivo defender Laure Sanabria apologized to his team's fans.
"We have to compete better," said Laure. "You can lose but you can't lose in this manner. We have to turn this around or it will be a long season."
Villarreal had never won in eight previous visits to Balaidos Stadium, and Celta made the better start.
But Villarreal resisted until Gomez swept in Denis Cheryshev's back pass to take the lead in the 32nd before the midfielder scored for a second time a minute later with a shot into the same left corner of the net.
Joaquin Larrivey pulled one back for Celta in the 44th after Manuel "Nolito" Agudo stole the ball from Victor Ruiz.
Celta played the final four minutes with 10 men after defender Andreu Fontas received his second booking.
Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo still had to save Larrivey's header in the 88th to protect the win that Mario Perez capped with a goal on the break in stoppage time.
Celta remained in sixth place while Villarreal rose to seventh.
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