Real Madrid players celebrate Raul’s second goal against Racing Santander in Madrid on Saturday. (AFP)

Madrid: Real Madrid stretched their lead in the Primera Liga standings to four points on Saturday after beating Racing Santander 3-1 at home, while arch-rivals Barcelona were held 1-1 at Espanyol in the Catalan derby.

Real skipper Raul steered his side to their seventh win in seven games at the Bernabeu when he took his tally for the season to eight goals with a classy double.

Barcelona made an impressive start in a pulsating match against neighbours Espanyol, Andres Iniesta putting the visitors ahead in the sixth minute after an electrifying run by Argentina forward Lionel Messi. But a second-half strike by Espanyol substitute Ferran Corominas denied Barcelona their second away win of the season.

Real lead the standings on 32 points, four clear of Barcelona and Villarreal who will meet Valladolid next.

An injury-hit Sevilla slumped to their third defeat in a row when they lost 0-1 at Almeria, defender Santiago Acasiete scoring the winner with a header after an 87th-minute free-kick.

In England, unbeaten Arsenal stretched their lead in the Premier League to five points after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday (as reported in Sunday’s Late City edition). First-half goals from Mathieu Flamini and Emmanuel Adebayor cancelled out Craig Gardner’s 14th-minute strike and Arsenal, dominant in the first half, survived concerted pressure from the home side in the second to take all the points.

Arsenal, are on 36 with a game in hand while champions Manchester United, on 30 from 14 games, host Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday. (Reuters)