Real Madrid dominated possession but not the game in beating fierce Basque rivals Athletic Club in their hostile Bilbao San Mamés stadium. Ruud van Nistelooy struck a sensational winner for the Spanish champions, who are now seven points clear of Barcelona.

Aitor Ocio gave the ball away on 54 minutes and Van Nistelrooy made best use of it, striding forward before cutting onto his right foot and hitting an unstoppable shot into the far top corner.

The first half was played out at 100 miles per hour as both sides had chances to score that they could not quite capitalise on at the last. The first significant one of these fell to Athletic striker Llorente from an excellent Fran Yeste free-kick, his header a foot over Iker Casillas's crossbar.

Casillas was a hero for Madrid two minutes later, in the eighth, when Fabio Cannavaro did not anticipate Andoni Iraola lurking on the defensive line. The Italy captain attempted to head the ball back and Iraola found himself through at an angle, only for Casillas to come out and block the shot with his legs.

Raúl then entered the home penalty area from the left and dummied inside before shooting to the near post, where Athletic goalie Aranzubía matched his opposite number with an excellent diving stop.

Sergio Ramos had some joy attacking from right-back and struck a ferocious dipping effort from 30 yards that had Aranzubía beaten but flashed half-a-yard wide.

David López fizzed an effort just over soon after before Casillas pulled off a stunning save from Llorente.

Koikili on the left put a great ball right onto the big striker's head on the edge of the six-yard box and Spain's number one flew across his goal to the near post to palm it away with both hands.

Before half-time Bernd Schuster's Madrid side had the ball in the net when Ramos, who had won a free-kick on the right touchline, headed inside the far post from the Wesley Sneijder set-piece. However he was half-a-yard offside and the goal was ruled out.

In the second period the tension around the famous old ground spoke of a knowledge that insisted the first goal would prove crucial. Van Nistelrooy's thunderbolt confirmed that by the end.

The Bilbao club did not give in without a fight though, often literally. Pablo Orbaiz, on for injured captain Ustaritz, and centre-half Fernando Amorebieta were booked for late, aggressive tackles in successive minutes.

The crowd did not like referee Medina Cantalejo's decision not to yellow card Van Nistelrooy for a similar challenge and things got a little silly after Joseba Exteberria was clearly felled by the Netherlands goal-getter right on the edge of the box, only for Cantalejo to wave away the appeals again.

Raúl's flick through for Van Nistelrooy on 67 minutes was sublime and the striker rounded Aranzubía only for full-back Koikili to nick the ball off him in front of the gaping goal.

Llorente almost provided an equalising goal twice then Madrid's Brazilian magician Robinho hit a shot that cannoned off the inside of the post and flew for a goal-kick on the other side.

The Basque fans were incensed when Diarra was not adjudged to have committed a foul despite a blatant body check in the penalty area and seconds later they wanted one again for handball as he blocked a low cross in while on the floor.

That manifested in a hail of missiles that engulfed Casillas whenever he tried to take a goal-kick. One of them - thankfully only a plastic cup - struck him on the head.

Baptista curled a free-kick that whistled past the top corner for Madrid but it did not matter in the end: Madrid took the points from Bilbao for the fourth occasion running, something that would have been unheard of until a few years ago.

In the early match of the day Osasuna and Valencia shared a poor goalless draw in Pamplona.

Osasuna welcomed the opposition to their Reyno de Navarra home having drawn with Sevilla in midweek, but the first half failed to live up to that encounter.

Former Real Madrid striker Javier Portillo was given a start after missing out to Cape Verdean Dady on Wednesday. He came closest to scoring when heading down Patxi Puñal's floated free-kick from the centre circle.

Despite an absence of marking, he aimed it straight at Santiago Cañizares.

Czech Jaroslav Plasil was unfortunate with a rasping drive from more than 20 yards for Osasuna while at the other end David Villa almost got a head on a Miguel cross and Villa's strike partner David Silva stung the fingertips of Ricardo.

The best chance of the second half fell to Plasil when he met a low Puñal cross into the area. The ball took a deflection and Cañizares did well to save with his legs.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport