4th Date of La Liga Same Old Story: A Madrid Team Leads La Liga.... Real Madrid? Nope but close. Finally Atletico have started to put things together? Not quite. Hats off to Kasey Keller (USA!) and the rest of Rayo Vallecano who have moved to the top of La Liga with a 1-0 victory at Celta on Sunday to set a club record for successive victories. Rayo Vallecano is the least-known of the three Madrid sides and have yo-yo'ed up and down between first and second divisions in recent years. Sunday they were confident and poised like champions putting on an outstanding defensive display and in the 65th minute, made the most of their limited chances when striker Bolo Perez's headed the games only goal. The little club from the Madrid district of Vallecas are now three points ahead of Barcelona and Alaves and four ahead of Real Madrid and Deportivo On Saturday, Barcelona suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Alaves. Real Madrid and Deportivo drew 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Rayo's achievement is highly unexpected as their modest status and squad of unknowns made them relegation favorites. The Matches: Sunday, 9/19/99 Numancia 1 (Pacheta 16) Athletic 1 (Ismael Urzaiz 26) Ejection: Julen Guerrero, Athletic 45 (two yellows) Spanish international Julien Guerrero was dismissed for two yellow card offenses just before the break but Numancia were unable to take advantage in this first ever league match between the two teams. Pacheta Rojo put Numancia ahead in the 16th minute with Ismael Urzaiz heading Athletic's tying goal ten minutes later. - - - - Real Sociedad 2 (Idiakez 23, Aldeondo 86) Mallorca 1 (Diego 80) Aitor Aldeondo's header four minutes from time clinched victory in an excellent match. Real Sociedad's first goal came from Inigo Idiakez in the 23rd minute but Mallorca fought hard and appeared to have drawn 10 minutes before time when Diego Tristan tied the match. - - - - Celta 0 Rayo Vallecano 1 (Bolo 65) Ejection: Caceres, Celta (Red card) 78 Rayo Vallecano took over the top spot in La Liga through a second half headed goal by striker Bolo Perez. Celta never looked impressive and Argentinian defender Fernando Caceres was sent off 12 minutes before the match ended. Zaragoza 1 (Milosevic 18) Atletico Madrid 1 (Hasselbaink 27) Atletico Madrid scrapped hard for their first point of the season and showed a general improvement from the past three weeks. Savo Milosevic's brilliant shot in the 18th minute put Zaragoza in the lead but a rocket from Dutchman Jimmy Hasselbaink tied the score nine minutes later. - - - - Racing 2 (Salva 24 pk, Munitis 61) Sevilla 2 (Tsartas 14, Olivera 21) Ejections: Shustikov, Racing 78 & Tabare, Sevilla 81 (Two yellow cards) Thrilling match. Seville went two up through a trademark Vassilis Tsartas freekick in the 14th minute and a goal by Andres Olivera seven minutes later. Racing replied three minutes later through. Salva Ballesta's fourth penalty of the season, and sixth goal overall brought Racing to within one. Pedro Munitis tied the match in the second half. - - - - Saturday, 9/18/99 Espanyol 2 (Tamudo 56, Benitez 63) Oviedo 1 (Dely Valdes 11) Panamanian striker Dely Valdes' 11th minute goal gave Oviedo the halftime lead, but goals from Raul Tamudo and Paraguayan Miguel Angel Benitez gave Espanyol the win at home. - - - - Valladolid 4 (Own goal 34, Rodrigo 51, Victor 69, 74) Malaga 2 (Catanha 8, de los Santos 61) A Mikel Roteta own goal (34), a brilliant score by the Brazilian Rodrigo Fabri (51) and a pair of goals by Victor Fernandez won the game for Valladolid. Catanha and Gonzalo de los Santos scored for Malaga. - - - - Alavés 2 (Astudillo 43, Ribera 72) Barcelona 1 (Dani 22) Hercules, Villarreal and now Alaves. All three lower division teams have surprised Barcelona in recent years. Alaves has a tough squad this season, they are now third place with nine points. Barcelona took the lead thanks to Dani Garcia's goal in the 212nd minute. But Argentinian Mauricio Astudillo and Nan Ribera scored to give Alaves the win. Perhaps Barca was overlooking Alaves to their Champions League encounter on Wednesday.... - - - - Betis 1 (Oli 26) Valencia 0 Valencia's defeat was their fourth in four games. Oli Alvarez's 26th minute goal gave Betis their first win of the season. It was also their first goal of the season. What is wrong with Valencia? Could Cuper be on the way out soon? Real Madrid 1 (Raul 82) Deportivo 1 (Djalminha 47) Ejection: Redondo, Real Madrid 90 (Two yellow cards) Raul Gonzalez saved Real Madrid with an acute angled shot in the 82nd minute after Deportivo had taken the lead through Djalminha's brilliant 25 yard strike just after halftime. Always a classic battle between these two clubs. 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