Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first two goals of the year and was sent off as Real Madrid beat Malaga 2-0 in another slightly disappointing display.
The Portuguese winger scored his first two goals of 2010 after 35 and 39 minutes of the match.
Both the goals followed good collective moves in what was an otherwise poor display from Real Madrid, but Ronaldo undid all of his good work with a moment of madness in the 70th minute of the game.
Under pressure from Malaga defender Mtiglia, he swung his arm and caught the defender full in the face, for which he was shown a direct red card.
Tests later showed he had broken the defender's nose and the Real Madrid player should now expect a suspension of between four and 10 games for aggression.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (R) slides to tackle Malaga's Patrick Jan Mtiliga during their Spanish first division soccer match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid January 24, 2010.
Getafe won South Madrid derby 1-0 against Atletico thanks to a 38th minute goal from former Atletico B-team player Manu del Moral.
Manu sidefooted home Pedro Leon's low cross to do justice to a game where Getafe was the better team.
Atletico created no clear chances in the match and its misery was compounded by the sending off of midfielder Pablo Assuncao with 20 minutes remaining.
Nestor Gorosito's debut in the Xerez dugout ended with a 2-1 home defeat to Osasuna.
Walter Pandiani opened the scoring for the visitors and although Mario Bermejo equalized before the break, Javier Camunas won the game in the 83rd minute.
Zaragoza's miserable run continued as they crashed 4-2 away to Villarreal. Capdevila, Nilmar and Rossi put the home team 3-0 up before the 25th minute and although goals from Eliseu and Lafita brought Zaragoza back into things in the second half, Ibagaza added a fourth for the home side with three minutes remaining.
Geijo's strike late in the first half gave an improving Racing Santander three points from its visit to play Sporting Gijon, while Valencia wasted a chance to keep in touch at the top of the table with a 0-0 draw away to struggling Tenerife.
Finally Espanyol and Mallorca drew 1-1 in the Cornella-El Prat Stadium. New signing Pablo Osvaldo put Espanyol ahead in the 49th minute, but Borja Valero scored from the penalty spot to assure a share of the points.