Goals from Gonzalo Higuain, Dries Mertens, Blerim Dzemaili and Jose Callejon saw Rafael Benitez beat his old club in a hugely entertaining contest and go eight points behind leaders Juventus.
Juve had briefly gone 11 points clear of third-placed Napoli after a Carlos Tevez hat-trick inspired a 4-0 beating of Sassuolo, their eighth win in a row without conceding a goal.
Goran Pandev missed an added time penalty after winning the spot kick himself only seconds after coming on as a substitute for Napoli but it made no difference to the result. The win also put Napoli two points behind unbeaten AS Roma, who travel to struggling AC Milan late on Monday looking to close the gap between themselves and Juve back to three points.
Costa double takes Atletico Madrid in level with Barca
MADRID: Atletico Madrid joined Barcelona at the top of La Liga as a double from Diego Costa guided them to a 3-0 win over Valencia on Sunday. After a disappointing first-half, Costa opened the scoring in style with a stunning individual effort 14 minutes after the restart.
Just four minutes later substitute Raul Garcia rattled home a loose ball inside the area to seal the three points.
Costa then saw a penalty saved by Diego Alves, but made no mistake when handed a second opportunity from the spot six minutes later to move level with Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga’s top scorer on 17.
Juve had briefly gone 11 points clear of third-placed Napoli after a Carlos Tevez hat-trick inspired a 4-0 beating of Sassuolo, their eighth win in a row without conceding a goal.
Goran Pandev missed an added time penalty after winning the spot kick himself only seconds after coming on as a substitute for Napoli but it made no difference to the result. The win also put Napoli two points behind unbeaten AS Roma, who travel to struggling AC Milan late on Monday looking to close the gap between themselves and Juve back to three points.
Costa double takes Atletico Madrid in level with Barca
MADRID: Atletico Madrid joined Barcelona at the top of La Liga as a double from Diego Costa guided them to a 3-0 win over Valencia on Sunday. After a disappointing first-half, Costa opened the scoring in style with a stunning individual effort 14 minutes after the restart.
Just four minutes later substitute Raul Garcia rattled home a loose ball inside the area to seal the three points.
Costa then saw a penalty saved by Diego Alves, but made no mistake when handed a second opportunity from the spot six minutes later to move level with Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga’s top scorer on 17.