Real Madrid went back atop the Spanish Liga by scoring a late 1-0 win Sunday at lowly Sporting Gijon, dpa reported.
Real's legendary fighting spirit finally prevailed in a tense encounter, and they battled out their sixth consecutive win thanks to a goal just eight minutes from time by Gonzalo Higuain.
There was a certain poetic justice in this because Higuain had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside half an hour earlier.
Real now have 29 points from 11 games, one point more than second- place Barcelona, who beat third-place Villarreal 3-1 on Saturday.
Real general director Jorge Valdano said: "We also know how to play when the games become difficult. We would have preferred a cleaner match, but we have to adapt ourselves to all kinds of situations if we want to progress."
He insisted that Real were superior: "We created far more clear chances, and we deserved the win."
Real coach Jose Mourinho watched the game from the stands because of a two-match touchline ban after being sent off for insulting the referee in Wednesday's 5-1 cup thrashing of Murcia.
His team dominated from start to finish but were foiled again and again by Gijon keeper Juan Pablo. But in the 82nd minute, Juan Pablo failed to hold a header from substitute Karim Benzema, and all Higuain had to do was push the ball over the goal-line.
Iker Casillas then had to make a sharp save from Gijon sub David Barral. Gijon defender Alberto Botia was sent off at the end for hacking down Cristiano Ronaldo, whose attitude all night had been provocative.
Later Sunday, Valencia beat Getafe 2-0 to score their first win in five matches. Tino Costa and David Navarro got the goals for Los Ches, who are now joint fourth with Sevilla.
Earlier in the evening, Sevilla had scored a last-gasp 2-1 win at luckless bottom team Zaragoza.
Supersub Alvaro Negredo scored the winner for Sevilla in the last minute, taking advantage of a mistake by Zaragoza defender Jiri Jarosik.
Valencia and Sevilla both have 20 points, three less than third- place Villarreal. They are one point above fifth-place Espanyol, who were lucky to escape from Santander with a 0-0 draw.
Espanyol needed a stellar performance from keeper Carlos Kameni, who saved a penalty from Ariel Nahuelpan.
In Sunday's other early games, Hercules came from behind to beat Real Sociedad 2-1, Malaga defeated fellow strugglers Levante 1-0, and Mallorca were held 0-0 by defiant Deportivo Coruna.
Zaragoza are rock bottom with just seven points. Then come Levante on eight, Almeria on nine, and Gijon and Malaga on 10.