Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Raul scored his 16th goal and Gabriel Heinze and Gonzalo Higuain also scored as Real Madrid beat Sevilla, 3-1, on Sunday to open a six-point lead in the Spanish La Liga.
Second-place Villarreal and third-place Barcelona - which is seven points back - are still within striking distance - but the win put Real Madrid in position to repeat as league champions.
Frederic Kanoute scored his 11th goal in the 38th minute for Sevilla, which is sixth and holds the final qualifying spot from the league for the UEFA Cup.
Heinze opened the scoring in the seventh minute by directing the ball into the left side of the net with his head while falling down.
Real Madrid's Wesley Sneijder sent a free kick from the left side of the field into the penalty area and Heinze ran onto the pass to score.
Sevilla tied the match off a set piece that bounced around the box and off of numerous players before Kanoute touched the ball inside the near post.
Sneijder also helped set up Real Madrid's second goal, playing a chip pass to Raul inside the box. Raul avoided two defenders and turned and fired into the left side of the goal.
Real Madrid put the finishing touches on its win in the 65th minute when Guti crossed to Higuain and he tucked the ball into the left side of the net.
Real Madrid was able to extend its lead after Barcelona lost to Real Betis 3-2 on Saturday and dropped into third. Villarreal took over second with a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
Deportivo defeated Real Murcia 3-1 thanks to a hat trick from Xisco in a clash of teams trying to avoid relegation. Deportivo moved four points clear of the drop zone and buried Murcia seven points deep.
Mallorca got two goals from Daniel Guiza in a 3-0 win over Valencia that moved it from 13th to ninth.
Also Sunday, fifth-place Racing beat struggling Espanyol, 3-0, to pull even in points with Atletico Madrid, Almeria edged Levante 2-1, Real Valladolid topped Real Zaragoza 2-1, Osasuna blanked Getafe 2-0 and Recreativo tied Bilbao 1-1.
