Seville, Spain (My Sportsbook) - Top-three sides Real Madrid and Sevilla were held to scoreless draws by Sporting Gijon and Espanyol respectively on Saturday as both teams struggled in front of goal.

Real Madrid was missing four key contributors as they headed to Gijon with Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain each out through injury, while Sevilla was unable to take advantage of a Nicolas Pareja red card in the 60th minute as Espanyol held out for a point.

Real takes over the top spot on goal difference with the result, but Barcelona can go three points clear with a win over Real Zaragoza on Sunday, while Sevilla is three points back of the leaders.

Sporting could have gone ahead in the first half when Miguel de las Cuevas forced a diving save from goalkeeper Iker Casillas at the near post, while Sporting goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas needed to parry a strong shot from Kaka.

The best chance of the match came in the 52nd minute when Kaka got to the end line and pulled the ball back for Esteban Granero near the six-yard box. He redirected it on goal but Colinas kept the ball out with his foot, leaving both sides with one point.

Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni gets most of the credit for his team claiming a point against Sevilla as the keeper produced a big stop on Jesus Navas early in the match and made another acrobatic stop on Diego Perotti's free kick.

Pareja was sent off on the hour mark after a late challenge on Diego Capel earned him a second yellow card, but it was the play of Kameni that saved the day with the keeper making a diving stop on Sebastien Squillaci's header before Capel was turned away at close range.

The only game featuring goals on Saturday saw Mallorca earn a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid despite playing the final 40 minutes with nine men. Josemi and Ivan Ramis were both sent off for Mallorca and Diego Forlan scored from the penalty spot for Atletico but a stoppage-time goal from Borja Valero leveled the match for good.