Cristiano Ronaldo took his tally to 19 goals in 17 matches with a double in Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Getafe on Monday as Jose Mourinho's side stayed within two points of Spanish league leader Barcelona.
In an frenetic Spanish capital derby, Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil gave Madrid an early 2-0 advantage before Daniel Parejo pulled one back for the home side.
Ronaldo added Madrid's third early in the second half and with the game apparently won, Kaka made his first appearance for Madrid since having surgery after the World Cup in the 75th.
However, Madrid went down a man when Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off and Jorge Angel Albin made it a dramatic finish by scoring Getafe's second in the 84th.
Mourinho's team held on to win its fourth straight game and end Getafe's club-record winning streak at four league matches.
Getafe tried to take the match to its cross-town rivals, but Madrid's attack of Ronaldo, Oezil, Angel Di Maria and Karim Benzema picked them apart.
Ronaldo had scored a double in last season's fixture at the Alfonso Perez stadium and was on his way to repeating the effort when he got Madrid's opener from the penalty spot 11 minutes in. Winger Di Maria earned the spot-kick when he was held up by defender Jose Manuel "Mane" Jimenez.
Eight minutes later, Di Maria put Oezil through the center of the Getafe defense and the Germany playmaker used one touch to create the angle to fire past goalkeeper Jordi Codina.
Down two goals, Getafe reacted, gaining control of possession and probing the Madrid defense. The reward came in the 29th when Parejo halved Getafe's deficit with a great individual effort. The ex-Madrid midfielder split two defenders before firing the ball just inside the left post.
Despite Getafe's reply, Madrid remained dangerous in attack, and Benzema crossed to Ronaldo, who came within inches of tapping in Madrid's third five minutes before halftime.
The pace did not wane in the second half, and in the 57th Oezil intercepted a pass for Benzema to set up Ronaldo in the area for the Portugal forward's 27th goal in 25 matches.
With eight minutes remaining, Arbeloa was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for handball and Albin, a second-half substitute, took advantage of a poor clearance by Marcelo to score Getafe's second in the 85th, but there was to be no comeback.
Earlier, Villarreal beat Almeria 2-0 on Monday to strengthen its grip on third place in Spain and stay undefeated at home.
Villarreal defender Jose Manuel Catala scored the 22-minute opener when he headed in a free kick by Bruno Valero, who doubled Villarreal's advantage in the 58th with a perfectly placed free kick inside the right post of Diego Alves' goal.
Coach Juan Carlos Garrido credited his defense for Villarreal's eighth victory in nine games at El Madrigal stadium that lifted the "Yellow Submarine" five points clear of fourth-place Valencia.
"This aggressiveness (in defense) that the team had today was key and we won due to this strong defensive effort," he said.
Also, Mallorca downed Hercules 3-0 for its first win in four weeks, Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 with Racing Santander and Zaragoza beat Real Sociedad 2-1 on a late goal by Braulio.
Mallorca's win lifted it to within three points of the European positions and handed Hercules its first loss in three weeks.
Emilio Nsue pounced on the rebound to grab the advantage for Michael Laudrup's squad in the 38th, and forward Victor Casadesus added the second thee minutes later with shot from inside the area.
Midfielder Michael Pereira capped the victory in the 51st, beating Hercules 'keeper Juan Calatayud with a left-footed blast.
At Vicente Calderon stadium, Atletico's attack was limited to a pair of individual efforts from Sergio Aguero, with striker Diego Forlan recovering from an ankle injury.
Atletico goalkeeper David de Gea made an excellent save with his leg from a shot by Markus Rosenberg in the 80th, and Racing 'keeper Antonio Rodriguez denied Diego Costa in the dying moments to preserve the draw.
"We tried, but we couldn't get it done," said Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores. "Racing only had one shot on goal and we arrived a lot. You can't ask for more."
Zaragoza won for just the second time this season in coach Javier Aguirre's first victory in charge of the club.
Florent Sinama Pongolle put Zaragoza ahead in the 10th, but Xabier Prieto scored his fifth goal of the season to equalize for Real Sociedad in the 33rd.
Braulio scored the winner in the 90th to lift Zaragoza out of last place and into 18th.
On Sunday, Barcelona beat Levante 2-1, while Valencia moved three points clear of fifth-place Espanyol after downing the Barcelona club 2-1. Also, Deportivo La Coruna defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1, Sevilla beat Osasuna 1-0, and Malaga rallied to a 2-1 victory over Sporting Gijon.
