La Liga Round-Up

Van Nistelrooy: Early opener

Gonzalo Higuain's dramatic late penalty gave Real Madrid a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in a fiery Madrid derby.

The game looked to be heading for a draw when Simao Sabrosa's late free-kick cancelled out Ruud van Nistelrooy's early opener.

Both sides had a man sent off at the Vicente Calderon as these two arch-rivals locked horns for the first time this season.

Real got off to a dream start with Ruud van Nistelrooy finding the net after only 34 seconds to shock the home fans.

Things got worse for Atletico on the half hour when Luis Perea was shown a straight red card for lashing out at Wesley Sneijder.

Real were reduced to ten men nine minutes later when van Nistelrooy was dismissed for a late tackle on Maniche.

Atletico threw everything at Real after the break and they were rewarded in the final minute when substitute Simao curled his free-kick from the edge of the box into the net.

There was still still time left for Real to grab a late winner from the penalty spot.

Roysten Drenthe was felled in the box by fellow Dutchman Johnny Heitinga and Higuain kept his cool from the spot to give Real the win and the local bragging rights.

Raul Tamudo missed a penalty as Espanyol were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Villarreal.

After a goalless first-half the game burst into life on 70 minutes when Espanyol were awarded a controversial penalty after Joan Capdevila was adjudged to have fouled Tamudo inside the box even though the offence appeared to be committed on the edge of the penalty area.

Tamudo stepped up to take the spot-kick only to see his effort superbly saved by Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez.

The point was good enough to lift Villarreal to the top of the table for 24 hours at least with Valencia taking on Numancia on Sunday.