It took the England striker, and occasional captain, just seven minutes to find the net at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, making no mistake with a right foot lob after being put through by Raul Gonzalez.

Owen's goal followed hard on the heels of his winner in Real's 1-0 over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League, his first goal for Madrid since his summer signing from Liverpool.

The game was an entertaining affair despite the lack of further goals but Real, buoyed by the success on the European stage, got their first league win in four games.

Both sides had other chances to get further goals but Real's Ronaldo and Valencia's Marco Di Vaio, the main target men for their respective sides, were woefully off form.

Valencia, the reigning Spanish champions, looked much better in the second half after the introduction of their Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar but Real just held their nerve and rode their luck.

Real's best other chance came with 15 minutes left when Valencia were caught on the break but Santiago Solari, who came on for Owen after 58 minutes, dwelled too long on the ball when in front of goal.

Valencia's Curro Torres had a late chance to level the scores but blasted the ball over the bar five minutes from the whistle.

The win means Real now have 13 points from their eight games and rise to seventh place, ahead of Sunday's games.

Valencia stay in second overnight but will almost certainly drop several places after the rest of the weekend's action.

Deportivo La Coruna earlier salvaged a point at Malaga thanks to a goal from Diego Tristan five minutes before the end which gave the Galician visitors a 1-1 draw

Malaga had taken an early lead when Paulo Wanchope had unleashed a thunderbolt shot from the edge of the area after six minutes, the former Manchester City striker leaving Deportivo keeper Francisco Molina motionless on his line.

League leaders Barcelona play host to Osasuna on Sunday.

The Catalan club is the only unbeaten team in the Spanish first division and has a five-point lead over the chasing pack, headed on Saturday by Valencia, and a game in hand.