Sevilla top La Liga after narrow win over Valladolid

MADRID, Nov 26 (AP): A day after seeing its rivals falter, Sevilla took care of business.

Sevilla moved past Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to go top of the Spanish league by beating Valladolid 1-0 on Sunday.

Atletico and Barcelona had played to a 1-1 draw on Saturday, opening the way for Sevilla to take the lead with a home win.

Sevilla also benefited from setbacks by other teams near the top of the standings. Alaves had a chance to go top on Friday but lost 1-0 at Leganes, while Real Madrid is sixth after a shock 3-0 defeat at Eibar on Saturday. That result ended the team's perfect run under coach Santiago Solari and left the Spanish powerhouse six points off the lead.

Sevilla, which had already led the league after the eighth round, has 26 points from 13 matches, one point more than Barcelona and two more than Atletico. Fourth-place Alaves is three points back.

Looking to avoid its own setback, Sevilla controlled the match from the start at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. It didn't create many significant scoring chances but was always closest to scoring.

Silva got the winner with a 30th-minute header after a well-placed cross by Pablo Sarabia, giving Sevilla its seventh straight home win in all competitions.