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Second-half goals by Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure gave Barcelona a 3-1 victory over a plucky Mallorca side in La Liga, while Valencia went second after beating Atletico Madrid 3-1.

Barcelona took an 11-point lead in La Liga after eventually getting past a solid Mallorca side who looked as if they would give their hosts a scare.

The visitors might be struggling to stay above the relegation zone in the league, but for long periods they defied their illustrious hosts. And it was Mallorca who were first to score in the Nou Camp, a long ball on the counter-attack finding Aritz Aduriz on fifteen minutes.

Another quarter of an hour later, however, Thierry Henry's brilliant individual skill levelled things as Barcelona took control of the game.

Yet the home side couldn't find a way through until Eidur Gudjohnsen and Iniesta beat the offside trap to score with 15 minutes left. Iniesta's finish put an end to the Mallorcans' dream of leaving the Nou Camp with a point before an injury-time goal from Yaya Toure closed things off for good.

The match got off to such a slow start that you began to wonder if the Christmas celebrations had not caught up on Barca's team of superstars. Though they kept the ball as efficiently as usual, they did precious little with it and instead seemed to be assuming that they would ease past their visitors with a minimum of effort.

Yet after just a quarter of an hour Mallorca managed to tear up that comfortable script, as a long ball through found Aduriz. His pace took him clear of the Barca defence, leaving him free to lob Victor Valdes from the edge of the box.

After that, Barca threw everything at Mallorca, with Yaya Toure coming within a whisker of finishing a brilliant build-up before Henry's magnificent finish.

Carles Puyol flicked the ball on from a corner, and though it seemed like it would fly past Henry the Frenchman flung his foot high to control the ball before turning and half-volleying it back across the face of the goal and in off the far post.

After that Barcelona controlled the game for long periods, though Mallorca's defence seemed to be holding solid.

Yet a chance deflection undid their previously effective defence. Xavi's deflected shot fell kindly to Gudjohnsen, who calmly rolled the ball across the face of goal for Iniesta to tap home from close range.

The final minutes saw Barcelona attacking again - though only in periods when the referee was not taking centre stage with his procession of cards that culimated in Mallorca defender Josemi earning an early bath.

The gap that his departure left opened a gap for Toure to pounce in injury time, scoring Barcelona's third goal and securing the points.

Valencia 3-1 Atletico Madrid

David Silva returned from long-term injury to inspire Valencia to a victory against Atletico Madrid that takes them into second place in La Liga.

Spain striker David Villa opened the scoring from the spot on 34 minutes before Silva added the second.

Diego Forlan pulled one back from a penalty before half-time, but Silva's second goal of the match, just over 20 minutes from the end, put the result beyond doubt.

A breathless start to the match could have led to three goals in the first five minutes, the best of which was Villa's disallowed goal just 90 seconds into the match. Incredibly, it was the Euro 2008 Golden Boot winner's second decent chance of the game: he won the ball fairly and slotted past Franco in the Atletico goal, but was harshly adjudged to have pushed Heitinga to the floor.

Two minutes later a goalmouth scramble led to another disallowed Valencia goal - this time for offside - and the hectic tempo continued for the first 20 minutes with a succession of clear-cut chances falling for both sides.

Yet for all the attempts the opening goal came from a 34th minute spot kick by Villa, awarded just 60 seconds after Villa was denied a clear penalty for a blatant shoulder charge by Perea. With the ball coming into the area, Valencia midfielder Ruben Baraja performed an extraordinary dive in the penalty box which was inexplicably adjudged to be the result of a foul.

It looked as if the referee was correcting his earlier error, and Villa despatched the penalty into the right corner to give Valencia a deserved lead.

Just five minutes later, Valencia's right-back Luis Miguel played a beautiful pass to release Silva, the playmaker finding just enough space to control the ball and flick a brilliant shot into the far corner from the outside of his left foot.

But as half-time beckoned the referee once again took centre stage, awarding another soft penalty at the other end of the pitch for the contact by Baraja on Sergio Aguero. Forlan scored from the spot to reduce the deficit to one.

The second half began in more sedate fashion, with Atletico having the best of the play - until the 69th minute, when Silva conjured his sublime second goal from nothing.

A pass from Joaquin Sanchez gave Silva the ball, and after one touch to control he unleashed a 30-yard left-foot rocket that curled perfectly into the top corner of the net. Though it was against the run of play, the strike re-energised the home side, and despite a late flourish by Atletico they cruised through to record a thoroughly well-deserved victory.

Toby Keel / Eurosport