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Ruud van Nistelrooy grabbed an injury-time goal to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win at Real Betis after two players were sent off.

Madrid, who visit UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League on Tuesday, had a hard time collecting the points in Seville after a convincing first half performance.

Their Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a close-range header that flew inside the far post after a free kick from the left by Ruben de la Red.

An unmarked de la Red then came close to scoring 10 minutes later when he forced a full-stretch save from Betis goalkeeper Castro Espinosa with a powerful shot from outside the area.

The home side almost equalised in first-half stoppage time through Cameroon midfielder Achile Emana whose shot was parried on to the post by Madrid keeper Iker Casillas after a neat pass from Mehmet Aurelio had set up the chance.

Betis did level the scores early in the second period when Madrid's Brazilian defender Marcelo conceded a penalty and was sent off after a reckless challenge from behind on Damia Abella.

Casillas got a hand to Sergio Garcia's spot kick but the Betis striker slammed the rebound into the net. Garcia was then sent off after being shown a second yellow card in the 82nd minute for a tackle on substitute midfielder Royston Drenthe.

In stoppage time, Van Nistelrooy beat his marker Juanito with a powerful run down the right and fired a low cross shot past Castro to secure the points for the visitors.

Espanyol 1-2 Barcelona

Thierry Henry returned to the Barcelona line-up with a goal as Pep Guardiola's team beat 10-man Espanyol courtesy of a last-gasp Lionel Messi penalty in a Catalan derby that was marred by crowd disturbances.

Espanyol went ahead midway through the first half, when Ferran Corminas leapt on a mistake from Victor Valdes in the Barcelona goal.

The keeper pushed a looping clearance on to the crossbar and Corminas reacted first to give the home side an undeserved lead.

The home side were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time, when Anderson Nene was adjudged to have led with an arm in an aerial challenge with Sergi Busquets - leading to his second yellow card.

Barca were frustrated for most of the second period, before Henry collected a superb pass from Xavi on 84 minutes, and prospered from a fortunate deflection from goalkeeper Carlos Kameni's clearance to pass into an empty net.

Espanyol survived wave after wave of attacks from Barca as the clocked ticked down, before Samuel Eto'o fell under the challenge of Nicolas Pareja deep into added time and the referee pointed to the spot.

Messi stepped up with the last kick of the game and gave Barcelona all three points.

The game was stopped was eight minutes midway through the second half after a flare was thrown into the home fans' enclosure, prompting ugly scenes in the stands.

Sporting Gijon 0-1 Villarreal

Villarreal stay top of La Liga and Sporting Gijon remain bottom after Manuel Pellegrini's side secured a 1-0 victory against the promoted outfit.

Giuseppe Rossi scored the only goal of the game somewhat against the run of play after 64 minutes in a match which Sporting largely dominated.

Croatian striker Mate Bilic hit the bar for the hosts before Italian striker Rossi netted, picking up a rebound in the area and firing clinically past Sporting keeper Ivan Cuellar from 12 yards.

Villarreal, who host Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday, are a point ahead of Real madrid and three clear of Barcelon and Valencia - although the latter club has a game in hand at home to Deportivo on Sunday.

Sporting are rooted to the bottom without a point, having already conceded 20 goals.

Will Tidey / Reuters