Real Madrid beat nine-man Getafe to top La Liga

Madrid, Oct 20 (IANS) Real Madrid remains top of La Liga as Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal of a tough 1-0 win away to Getafe.

Mbappe opened the scoring in the 80th minute with his 10th goal of the season, but Real Madrid's task was made easier by Getafe defender Allan Nyom's red card after a wild challenge on the Frenchman in the 77th minute, only moments after coming on as a substitute.

Getafe's afternoon got worse in the 84th minute when Alex Sancris also received his marching orders after a ridiculous foul on Vinicius Jr, reports Xinhua.

Earlier on Sunday, Elche and Athletic Club had drawn 0-0, meaning Elche retains its unbeaten home record, although Eder Sarabia's players will be disappointed after creating the better chances only to be denied by Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon.

Celta Vigo's search for a first league win this season continues after a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad that leaves them with seven draws from the first nine matches of the campaign.

Pablo Duran put Celta ahead, but Carl Starfelt's red card on the stroke of halftime saw Celta play the entire second half with just 10 players, and Carlos Soler snatched an equalizer for the visitors in the 89th minute.

Jorge de Frutos scored twice against his former club as Rayo Vallecano had a comfortable 3-0 win away to Levante with Alvaro Garcia also on the scoresheet.

On Saturday, Ronald Araujo scored a 93rd-minute winner as FC Barcelona survived a poor first half to win 2-1 at home to Girona.

The Uruguay defender scored from Frenkie de Jong's assist, after Pedri had scored an early goal and Axel Witsel leveled for the visitors, who spurned several good chances in the first half.

Barca looked more secure after the break, but the game was heading for a draw before Araujo's dramatic winner, while coach Hansi Flick was sent off and will be in the stands against Real Madrid next weekend.

Villarreal and Real Betis drew 2-2 with Antony scoring twice, with the second coming in injury time as Betis came back from 2-0 down following goals from Tajon Buchanan and Alberto Moleiro.

Atletico Madrid won 1-0 at home to Osasuna with Thiago Almada scoring the only goal after an excellent pass from Giuliano Simeone.

Atletico should have won more comfortably but Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera made several important saves to keep the score down.

Three Mallorca goals in 10 second half minutes left Sevilla stunned when it looked as if Ruben Vargas' first half opener was going to give Sevilla a third consecutive win.

Vedat Muriqi equalized in the 67th minute, before quickfire goals from Mateo Joseph completed an unlikely win for Mallorca.

Luis Carrion's return as Oviedo coach got off to a poor start on Friday night as second-half goals from Kike Garcia and Pere Milla condemned his side to a 2-0 defeat at home to Espanyol.

The weekend saw players in every game stand still for 15 seconds as a protest against La Liga's plans to play the match between Villarreal and FC Barcelona in Miami.