Sevilla never fully recovered from the shock of losing their captain just two minutes into their clash with mid-table Espanyol.
In a dramatic start, Nico Pareja was sent off for a foul on Pablo Piatti in the box and former Arsenal midfielder Jose Antonio Reyes converted the penalty with a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner to give his side the lead.
Sevilla equalised on 20 minutes through Stevan Jovetic's close-range finish but Espanyol regained the lead two minutes into first-half stoppage time when Marc Navarro headed home from Reyes' free-kick and they clinched victory on 71 minutes with a diving header from Gerard Moreno.
Athletic Bilbao came from behind to beat lowly Sporting Gijon 2-1 and climb up to seventh place.
Sporting threatened to spring an upset when Duje Cop was brought down by Eneko Boveda in the box on 25 minutes and got up to convert.
Iker Muniain brought Bilbao level five minutes into the second half and Aritz Aduriz won the game with a penalty on 71 minutes after Muniain had been brought down in the box by Moi Gomez.
In Sunday's other games, Barcelona lost ground in the title race with a 1-1 draw at Real Betis, while leaders Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-0.
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