Valencia have moved to within a point of fourth-placed Sevilla with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano.
The hosts went ahead in the 13th minute when Sofiane Feghouli arrived late in the box to nod home Antonio Barragan's cross.
Pablo Piatti then fired a vicious shot narrowly wide, but Feghouli soon made it 2-0 as he swept the ball into the back of the net after Alvaro Negredo's initial header was saved.
Two minutes later, Piatti thundered a strike into the bottom corner to put the hosts three goals ahead before the break.
Valencia switched off somewhat after the interval and had Diego Alves to thank after the goalkeeper made two good saves to deny Leo Baptistao and Javier Aquino in quick succession.
The hosts had to survive the final 20 minutes with 10 men after Andre Gomes was shown a second yellow card, but they did so with ease to end a run of four league games without a win.
Kristian Johnson
