Stuttering Spanish champions Real Madrid returned to winning ways in La Liga but were well short of their scintillating best in a laboured 2-0 victory at lowly city rivals Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
Karim Benzema finished off a swift breakaway from an Angel Di Maria pass in the 13th minute and Xabi Alonso had to clear a Rayo effort off the line before Cristiano Ronaldo netted from the penalty spot 20 minutes from time.
Only the second win for Jose Mourinho’s side in five games this season lifted them to seventh on seven points, eight behind leaders Barcelona who beat Granada 2-0 at home on Saturday.
Real have lost twice in La Liga - 2-1 at Getafe and 1-0 at Sevilla - the same number of defeats they suffered in the whole of last season, while arch-rivals Barca have won all five games.
Real Mallorca, Malaga and Sevilla are level on 11 points in second, third and fourth, while Atletico Madrid are a point behind in fifth ahead of their game in hand at Real Betis on Wednesday.
Sevilla won 2-0 at promoted Deportivo Coruna in Monday’s late kickoff after Mallorca beat Valencia 2-0 and Malaga ground out a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Alvaro Negredo turned the ball into the net from close range to give Sevilla a 75th-minute lead at the Riazor and Ivan Rakitic added a second seven minutes from time when he charged down an attempted clearance by goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia.