BILBAO, Nov 26 (SW) - Sevilla jumped out early and then held on late as they remained second in La Liga with a 3-1 victory away to Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés.

Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano opened the scoring for the visitors after just five minutes with a spectacular strike over his head after some fine work by Frédéric Kanouté.

But as quickly as they scored, Sevilla doubled their lead just as fast in the 10th minute as Martí found the back of the net for the reigning UEFA Cup winners.

Sevilla were firmly in control for the remainder of the half, but looked a bit in trouble later on int he 69th minute as Aritz Aduriz scored on a rebound to pull Bilbao back to within a goal.

But after holding onto a slim lead for over 20 minutes, Sevilla were finally able to put the game away as Luis Fabiano grabbed his second of the game in injury time, keeping them just a point behind leaders Barcelona.