David Beckham was sent off late on in Real Madrid's 2-1 home defeat to Valencia.
David Beckham was sent off late on in Real Madrid's 2-1 home defeat to Valencia.The England captain was given his marching orders by referee Arturo Dauden Ibanez for two moments of petulance to the match official.
It rounded up a miserable evening for Los Merengues at El Santiago Bernabeu, as Real dropped from the summit of La Liga with the defeat after finishing the match with nine men.
Things looked promising in the early stages after Real were awarded a dubious penalty following Emiliano Moretti's challenge on Sergio Ramos.
Zinedine Zidane took the ensuing spot kick with his right foot but the French international struck it against the post and away for a goal kick.
Valencia then took the lead on 22 minutes when Ruben Baraja curled an excellent right foot free kick over the Real wall and past Iker Casillas for 1-0.
Real pulled level on 36 minutes when poor defending from Los Che allowed Raul to take a throw-in into the Valencia box unmarked before turning and finishing with aplomb.
The scoreline lasted three minutes, however, as referee Ibanez deemed Sergio Ramos to have handled Pablo Aimar's cross into the Real box for a penalty.
David Villa stepped up and went one better than Zidane by converting his spot kick to make it 2-1 at the break.
Valencia were unlucky not to extend their lead after Miguel Angel Angulo was adjudged to be offside after latching onto a through ball before scoring.
The second half saw Real apply plenty of pressure but no finish to their opportunities, while Villa was unlucky not to score a second goal after rounding Casillas before seeing his goal-bound shot cleared off the line by Sergio Ramos.
It was in the final stages that Real went down to ten men, as substitute Thomas Gravesen was given a straight red card for his late tackle on Vicente.
They were reduced to nine men when Beckham foolishly reacted with displeasure to a Valencia free kick by receiving two yellow cards.
The result dropped Real to third in the table, as Madrid neighbours Getafe returned to the summit of La Liga with a 5-2 victory over Real Zaragoza.
Getafe ran out to a four-goal lead - with Veljko Paunovic opening the scoring after nine minutes.
Dani Guiza doubled Getafe's advantage from the penalty spot on 21 minutes before he scored a second goal three minutes later for 3-0.
Ruben Pulido made it four nine minutes before the break and it was not until a minute after the restart that Zaragoza replied though Jose Movilla.
Delio Toledo made it 4-2 on 58 minutes but Getafe assured themselves a three-goal win with a fifth from Pablo Redondo.
A late David Silva strike gave Celta Vigo a 1-0 home win over ten-man Espanyol.
The Barcelona-based club played the second half a man short after Mauricio Pochettino received two bookable offences before the break at the Balaidos.
Cash-strapped Real Sociedad made it three matches unbeaten after a 2-0 home success over Deportivo La Coruna.
Second half strikes from Darko Kovacevic (50) and Igor Jauregui (67) gave the Basque club maximum points at the Anoeta.
Villarreal proved too strong for bottom club Mallorca at El Madrigal.
First half strikes from Juan Roman Riquelme (11), Jose Mari (32) and Diego Forlan (45) were enough to earn the points for The Yellow Submarines.
Athletic Bilbao's free fall in La Primera continues as the Basque club succumbed to a 1-0 at Cadiz.
Fernando Enrique's early strike keeps Athletic second from bottom in the table.
Malaga made it a miserable day for Andalucian rivals Real Betis following a 5-0 drubbing of the Seville-based club at La Rosaleda.
Two goals each from former Bolton Wanderers man Salva Ballesta (7, 30) and former Ipswich Town striker Pablo Counago (72, 74) sent the Costa del Sol outfit on their way to a big win on Sunday.
Fernando Sanz (51) also found the scoresheet for Malaga in Sunday's rout of Betis.
Atletico Madrid saw off struggling Racing Santander in an evening kick-off at El Sardinero.
Maxi Rodriguez was Atletico's match winner with the only goal just before half time.
Click below for match summaries:
Cadiz 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
Celta Vigo 1-0 Espanyol
Getafe 5-2 Real Zaragoza
Malaga 5-0 Real Betis
Real Sociedad 2-0 Deportivo La Coruna
Villarreal 3-0 Mallorca
Racing Santander 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid 1-2 Valencia
