Real Madrid took advantage of an earlier slip-up from Barcelona and Sevilla in the La Liga title race and climbed back to to the top of the table with a 2-1 win over potential relegation candidates Real Betis in the Spanish capitalon Sunday evening.
Another late trademarkheader from captain Sergio Ramos and a 26th goal of the season from Cristiano Ronaldowas enough to see off the spirited Beleticos -who went ahead thanks to a comical error formKeylor Navas, who was lucky to still beon the pitch, afterbundlingthe ball over his own goal line in thefirst-half.
The 73,000 in attendanceat theSantiago Bernabeu Stadium fell silent moments before kick-offin memory of clublegendRaymond Kopa - however just six minutes in, the Madridistas were on their feet in expectation of a routine finish, but it did not come.
James Rodriguez received possession in acres of spaceon the right-hand side before playing a perfectly-judgedball in behind the visitors back-four and into the path of Alvaro Morata, who had expertly-timed his attackingrun.
The Spaniard chose tounselfishly square his pass across the face of goal instead of taking on the shot -allowing teammate Ronaldothe opportunity to finish off a well-worked move, but the 32-year-old could only sky his effort well over the bar.
Midway through the first-halfNavas somehow escaped a straight red-card after takingdown DarkoBrasanac in a tackle that would been more suited on arugbyfieldas the Serbian homed inon goal.
The 25-year-old was inches away from lifting the ball over the advancing goalkeeper after beingleftunmarkedin a huge amount of space, but the midfielder was upended by the Real Madrid custodian- who made no contact on the ball before felling his opposite man.
Bizarrely, the officialMateu Lahoz judged the collision to be a fair one andwaved play on - much to the confusion of the travelling camp.
Four minutes later however, Los Blancos bossZinedineZidane may have hoped that his number one had taken an early exit as the Costa Rica international fumbled the ball into his own net to give the visitors an unlikely lead.
A weak shot fromAntonioSanabria just inside the area looked aroutine save for the 30-year-old, but the shot-stopper palmed the ball backover his owngoal-line after initially diverting the effortaway from danger.
It was backs to the walls for Real Betis after going ahead, but the hosts'consistent pressurefinally paid off five minutes before the break as Ronaldo headed home from six-yards following a fizzing cross from Marcelo on the left-hand side -extending the Spanish capital's side ofscoringin 48 consecutive games.
It was end to end stuff during the opening of the second-half, and on the hour-mark Real Betis defender GermanPezzellaproduced a remarkable last-ditch tackle to prevent the Portuguese international fromdoubling his tally for evening.
The 25-year-old got the wrong side of the sprintingattacker whowas through on goal,butsomehowthecentre-backmiraculously managed to save his side by timing his sliding-tackle to perfection - nippingthe ball off the toes of the dangerous wide-man before taking him down in the area.
Midway through the second-halfRonaldowas in thethickof the action again, as were the officials.
A lovely looped ball over the top of theBeticosdefence found its way to the 2016 European Champions winner who deftly lifted his effort over the advancing Antonio Adan,however wasjudged offside before the shotnestled into the back of thenet - a decision that looked incorrect on reflection.
With just over 10 minutes to go Real Betis' challenge of keeping the scores level became even harder as MatteoPiccini was caught byLahoz pulling the shirt of theadvancing LucasVasquez andreceivedhis second yellow card for the foul.
Two minutes later, the 10-men were punished as Ramos powered a trademark header into the bottom left-hand corner of Adan's goal - acarbon-copy of hisbracein Naples on Tuesday night.
An out-swinging corner by Toni Kroos from the right-hand side was met by theonrushingSpaniard who bulleted his effort past the 29-year-old Madrid-born custodian - giving Los Blancos hope of completingtheir fifth turn-around in their last six outings.
But as the game wore into stoppage time, the scores were almost level bus somehowNavas redeemed his earlier blunder with a match-winning save.
Sanabria almost had the better of the 30-year-old custodian againafter firing his header towards the bottom-corner, but a world-class, fully-stretched save was enough to secure the victory for Real Madrid and lift them back to the top of La Liga with a game in hand.
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This is our line-up today! ï’šï”› Let's go, Betis!#RBBlive pic.twitter.com/JU76UksDGr