Madrid, Jan 15 (IANS) Real Madrid came back from a goal down away to Mallorca to win 2-1 and maintain their lead at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga.

Mallorca had taken a first half lead, thanks to a header from Israeli striker Tomer Hemed and for a while it looked as if they would hold on against a below par Madrid in the second half of the match played Saturday.

The home side saw a perfectly legal goal ruled out for a non-existent offside before Gonzalo Higuain drew Madrid level after 72 minutes.

Jose Callejon scored the winning goal five minutes from time with a miss-hit shot from outside of the penalty area after a sustained Madrid attack.

The win takes Madrid eight points clear of FC Barcelona, who play Real Betis next.

Third placed Valencia lost further ground on the two leaders, suffering a shock 0-1 home defeat to Real Sociedad, who recovered well from their 6-1 midweek mauling in Mallorca.

Antoine Griezmann’s second half goal, which came after he had handled the ball, was enough to give the Basques the victory and lift them into mid-table.

The day kicked off with a 0-0 draw between seventh placed Sevilla and eighth place Espanyol, while Zaragoza remain rock bottom of the table after a 1-1 draw at home to Getafe.

Mauricio Lanzaro put Zaragoza ahead with a powerful header, but an own goal from Javier Paredes saw the visitors take a share of the points.