Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as Real Madrid eased some of the pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane with a 4-1 victory over top-four rivals Valencia at the Mestalla.
Zidane's future has been the subject of intense speculation following a poor run of form that had seen Madrid fall 19 points behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race and dumped out of the Copa del Rey by Leganes.
The return of Madrid's "BBC" strikeforce of Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema -- starting together for the first time since last April -- boosted the defending champions and they responded with a much-needed victory.
Ronaldo, whose future has also been widely discussed but on Friday insisted he wants to stay at the Madrid club, opened the scoring in the 16th minute from the penalty spot.
The Portugal international repeated the feat in the 38th minute to double Madrid's lead but Valencia set pulses races in the visiting ranks when Santi Mina made it 2-1 in the 58th minute.
Los Che could not find an equaliser, though, and Madrid sealed victory with two goals in the final six minutes through Marcelo and Toni Kroos.
The win lifts Zidane's men to within two points of third-placed Valencia, who have now lost five of their last eight games in the Spanish top-flight.
Earlier on Saturday, Villarreal stayed in the hunt for a top-four finish and a Champions League berth after routing Real Sociedad 4-2 at home.
Villarreal stayed a point behind Madrid in fifth place thanks to goals from Victor Ruiz, Pablo Fornals, Carlos Bacca and Samu Castillejo, who all scored in the first 35 minutes.
Ivan Ivi inspired a dramatic late comeback to help Levante salvage a 2-2 draw against 10-man Deportivo La Coruna at the Riazor.
Depor, trashed 7-1 by Madrid last weekend, looked set to leapfrog their opponents and out of the relegation zone when first-half goals from Adrian Lopez and Florin Andone saw them leading 2-0 heading into the final 10 minutes.
That was despite playing with a man less from the 34th minute after Celso Borges was sent off.
However, the battling hosts could not hold on for their first win in six weeks as Ivi struck in the 80th and 84th minutes, his first effort going in via a significant deflection before the summer signing netted the equaliser with a superb 25-yard effort.
There was also a red card in the 0-0 draw between Malaga and Girona at La Rosaleda, with home midfielder Gonzalo Castro dismissed with 12 minutes left.
Girona could not take advantage though, as rock-bottom Malaga held on for their second draw under new coach Jose Gonzalez.