Real Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini hailed his players after their 2-1 win at Valencia.
Ayoze Perez struck both Betis goals.
Pellegrini said: "Three very important points, it was the rival in front of us but the classification is not achieved by any means. There are 18 points left, but I hope we maintain today's level until the end of the championship.
"In the first half we took the lead against a team that was strong at home. We both dedicated ourselves to playing, we had the goal, then we were able to score and a second half that maintained the tone of the first until came the play from Fornals' shot that could have scored a goal and then the foul on the goalkeeper that is a matter of judgment and a penalty that is not understandable.
"The goal got them into the game and when we were more involved the second came with a great goal from Ayoze. Happy with the team's maturity and the three important points in a stadium like this."