Ten-man Madrid keep Barça in sight

Ten-man Real Madrid CF resisted considerable late pressure to take the derby spoils in the Spanish capital, prevailing 3-2 at Club Atlético de Madrid to stay within a point of FC Barcelona, who beat RCD Mallorca 4-2.

Late rally
Los Merengues had not lost at the home of their neighbours for ten years and they continued that proud record thanks to a bright start. Kaká put Manuel Pellegrini's men ahead courtesy of a superb fifth-minute effort and Marcelo doubled their lead from a tight angle 20 minutes later, before Gonzalo Higuaín looked to have put Madrid beyond reach halfway through the second period. Sergio Ramos saw red for a foul on Sergio Agüero just two minutes after, however, and Atlético profited to score through Diego Forlán (79) and his Argentinian strike partner (81). Agüero seemed certain to equalise in added time, in fact, only for Iker Casillas to make a fantastic save and keep Los Rojiblancos in the bottom three.

Pedro efforts
Earlier in the evening, Barça returned to winning ways following their recent stalemates with CA Osasuna and UEFA Champions League rivals FC Rubin Kazan. Pedro Rodríguez hit the target twice for the Spanish and European champions either side of José Nunes's 20th-minute equaliser, with Thierry Henry then nodding in the hosts' third and his first of the campaign on the cusp of half-time. The scoring was rounded off by a late Lionel Messi penalty following Josemi's foul on Ibrahimović and an added-time Alhassane Keita consolation.

Depor joy
Seven points shy of the Blaugrana, nine-man RC Deportivo La Coruña catapulted themselves up to fourth with a 2-0 triumph at Getafe CF. Mista gave the visitors the lead in the 13th minute but they were rocked 13 minutes later when Riki picked up a second yellow card for handball. Despite that setback, Filipe Luís tapped in a minute before the hour mark and Deportivo made light of the 72nd-minute dismissal of Sergio González to hold on for victory. Elsewhere, second-bottom Málaga CF claimed a 2-2 draw at CD Tenerife.