La Liga: Barcelona bounce back at Real Sociedad, Sevilla hold off Levante

Barcelona ground out a feisty 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Thursday, returning to second in the La Liga table and putting Monday’s home defeat to Cádiz behind them.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s early strike helped Xavi’s side tighten their grip on a top-four place, opening an eight-point gap over Sociedad in sixth. The Gabon forward struck after 11 minutes, heading home Ferran Torres’ cross after Ousmane Dembélé had struck the post.

Related: European roundup: Real Madrid move to within four points of title at Osasuna

That was the first goal the hosts had conceded at the Anoeta since mid-December and la Real quickly set about making amends, with Alexander Isak dragging a shot wide of the far post. In the second half, Marc-André ter Stegen denied Alexander Sørloth twice, while Gavi missed a chance to seal victory on the break.

Sevilla are in third place after holding on for a hard-fought 3-2 victory at lowly Levante. Jesús Corona scored his first goal for the club with a header, then got a second with a fine lob from Lucas Ocampos’ pass after the home captain, José Luis Morales, had levelled from the penalty spot.

In the second half, Levante had a golden opportunity to equalise when Marcos Acuña conceded another spot-kick, but this time Morales sent the ball wide. Jules Koundé headed home from a corner to extend Sevilla’s lead, with Roberto Soldado’s late goal only a consolation as the hosts stayed six points from safety.

Cádiz fell back to earth after their Camp Nou victory as Athletic Bilbao raced into a three-goal lead. Raúl García grabbed the opener from close range, with Iker Muniain scoring the rebound after his penalty was saved. Mikel Vesga added a third from the edge of the box with 33 minutes played, and Iñaki