La Liga leaders Real Madrid were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at lowly city rivals Rayo Vallecano on Sunday as Joselu's early strike was cancelled out by Raul de Tomas' penalty, a result that could spice up the title race with surprise package Girona.
After dealing what could have been a massive blow to Girona's title hopes by thrashing them 4-0 last week, a wasteful Real Madrid stumbled at Vallecas and could see the Catalan upstarts edge closer in the rear mirror once again.
The draw saw Carlo Ancelotti's side move to 62 points, six points ahead of second-placed Girona who have a game in hand at Athletic Bilbao on Monday. Barca are a distant third on 54 points, three ahead Atletico Madrid in fourth.
Forward Joselu gave Real Madrid the lead after they took advantage of a wasted opportunity by Rayo forward Raul de Tomas that allowed the visitors to start a quick counter attack.
Brahim Diaz delivered a brilliant long pass into the stride of Federico Valverde who, unmarked on the right wing, put the ball on a plate for Joselu with a low cross that the Spanish forward only had to tap into the empty goal.
Joselu's first-time effort from inside the box was at first ruled out for offside by the linesman but VAR quickly corrected the decision as the Spanish forward was clearly onside.
Real dominated proceedings with up to 65% possession but were wasteful and allowed the locals to equalise in the 27th minute with De Tomas' penalty after the VAR spotted a handball by midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.
The equaliser sparked wild celebrations among the Vallecas' crowd, with the stadium roaring support for their team who have moved up a spot to 16th, eight points off the relegation places.
Missing injured England midfielder Jude Bellingham, Real were on top in the second half but kept missing chances.
The closest they got was a Toni Kroos free kick from the edge of the box that was brilliantly saved by Stole Dimitrievski who leaped to palm the ball round the post from a curling strike that was destined for the upper left corner in the 80th minute.
The disgruntled visitors were reduced to 10 men in added time when 75th minute substitute Dani Carvajal was shown two yellow cards in two minutes.
Depleted Milan miss chance to go second
AC Milan missed out on the chance to move into second in the Serie A standings when they lost 4-2 at mid-table Monza on Sunday after being reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
Milan remained third in the standings on 52 points, two adrift of second-placed Juventus and 11 behind leaders Inter Milan, who have a game in hand.
The Rossoneri suffered their first league loss in more than two months to end their unbeaten run of nine games.
Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota put Monza ahead in the first half before substitutes Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic pulled Milan level in the second. Warren Bondo and Lorenzo Colombo secured the hosts all three points with a goal apiece in the dying minutes.
Milan went down to 10 men in the 52nd minute when Luka Jovic was sent off for violent conduct against Monza captain Pessina, with the referee overturning his original decision to just book the Serbia striker after consulting the VAR screen.
"We made mistakes that ruined the match. When you concede four goals it feels wrong to say our first half-hour was good, but that is true," Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN.
"Going a man down made it even more difficult. After equalising we should've been sharper to defend better. The team felt confident and wanted to go on to win."
Ten-man Brest climb to second with
High-flying Brest earned a dramatic 1-0 home win over Olympique de Marseille on Sunday courtesy of Pierre Lees-Melou's late goal to climb to second place in the Ligue 1 standings.
Brest, winless in their last four matches in all competitions, moved up to 40 points, one clear of Nice, who lost 1-0 at Olympique Lyonnais on Friday.
Paris St Germain top the standings with 53 points.
Lees-Melou scored two minutes from time after stealing a Marseille ball from a throw-in to make a fine individual run into the box and beat goalkeeper Ruben Blanco.
Gennaro Gattuso's side had better possession throughout the game but could not capitalise on their numerical advantage after Brest striker Steve Mounie was sent off in the 60th minute.
