Valencia confirmed its best Spanish league start Sunday after David Villa's second-half goal gave it a 1-1 draw at Valladolid to keep it at the top of the standings. The Spain striker continued his incredible scoring run since a victorious European Championship campaign, putting a loose ball in at the near post in the 62nd minute after goalkeeper Asier Riesgo's reaction save of Juanma Mata's header. Valencia leads with 20 points as it stayed unbeaten through eight rounds to lead by one point ahead of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, which beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2. Gonzalo Higuain scored two goals for Madrid to win despite Athletic rallying from a two-goal deficit. FC Barcelona had demolished Almeria 5-0 on Saturday for the two Spanish giants to stay one point ahead of Villarreal and two up on Sevilla, which lost 1-0 to Malaga. Atletico Madrid blew a two-goal advantage and then rallied with 10 men with two goals in the closing stages to snatch a 4-4 draw at Villarreal. Simao Sabrosa scored twice and set up the other two goals, including substitute Raul Garcia's 86th-minute equalizer. In other results Sunday, it was: Numancia 2, Racing Santander 1; Mallorca 3, Espanyol 0; Deportivo La Coruna 0, Sporting Gijon 3; and Getafe 1 Valladolid 0. Genoa holds Inter In Rome, Inter Milan was held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Genoa on Sunday, and Napoli and Udinese both won to join the three-time defending champion at the top of the Serie A standings. Napoli beat Lazio 1-0 in Rome with an own-goal by defender Sebastiano Siviglia, and Antonio Di Natale scored twice in Udinese's 3-1 win over AS Roma, which lost its third straight match. Udinese tops the table on goal difference with 17 points. Inter and Napoli also have 17 points. Surging AC Milan, which beat Atalanta 1-0 in Bergamo, and Fiorentina, which won 3-1 at Palermo, are next with 16. Also, it was: Cagliari 2, Chievo Verona 0; Reggina 2, Lecce 0; and Sampdoria 2, Bologna 0.
