Real Madrid chalked up back-to-back wins for the first time since April after coming from behind to beat Europa League finalists Sevilla.
A double from Rodrygo ensured that Los Blancos return to the capital four points clear of city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Sevilla gave their visitors a mighty scare before a late red card took the sting out of the game and Carlo Ancelotti's men cruised to victory.
Real Madrid fell behind with only three minutes on the clock. Bryan Gil's effort was blocked by Eder Militao, but Rafa Mir was on hand to fire the ball into the top of the net at Thibaut Courtois' near post.
They should have pulled level on a quarter of an hour when Luka Modric split the Sevilla defence and found Lucas Vazquez, whose low cross was diverted wide at the back post by Rodrygo.
Where the Brazilian failed from six yards, he succeeded from 25, equalising with a driven free-kick after 29 minutes.
Sevilla nearly retook the lead just before the break when a cross from Papu Gomez was diverted over by Erik Lamela at the far post.
After the break, Marcus Acuna managed to skip away from Lucas Vazquez and Dani Ceballos to tee up Mir with a driven cross, but this time the striker put his effort wide.
Largely against the run of play, Real Madrid went ahead with little over 20 minutes to go. Modric managed to weave his way out of trouble and shift the ball to Toni Kroos, who in turn picked out Rodrygo with a superb defence-splitting pass. The Brazilian made no mistake as he raced through on goal, slotting under Bono.
Kroos nearly grabbed a second assist moments later when his free-kick was met by Alvaro Rodriguez, but the youngster was unable to keep his close-range header on target.
Real Madrid's task was made a little easier when Acuna received a red card for a dangerous challenge on Dani Ceballos in the closing stages.
Sevilla player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Bono (5); RB: Gonzalo Montiel (6), CB: Nemanja Gudelj (5), CB: Karim Rekik (5), LB: Marcos Acuna (6); CM: Ivan Rakitic (7), CM: Manu Bueno (5); RM: Erik Lamela (6), AM: Papu Gomez (6), LM: Bryan Gil (6); CF: Rafa Mir (8)
SUBS: Joan Jordan (5), Suso (5), Jesus Corona (N/A), Oliver Torres (N/A), Loic Bade (N/A)
Real Madrid player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Thibaut Courtois - 5/10 - Didn't have too much to do despite Sevilla having the better chances.
RB: Lucas Vazquez - 6/10 - A useful outlet in attack but was ropey defensively and Sevilla sought to take advantage of this with overloads.
CB: Eder Militao - 7/10 - Defended with aggression and was the perfect compliment to Alaba.
CB: David Alaba - 7/10 - A bit more methodical with his work than the brash Militao.
LB: Ferland Mendy - 5/10 - Didn't provide too much at either end of the pitch before being substituted. Made to fight for every ball by Lamela and Montiel.
DM: Aurelien Tchouameni - 6/10 - Spent much of the game putting in the hard yards to compensate for Modric and Kroos' lack of mobility.
CM: Toni Kroos - 7/10 - For the most part was leggy but he popped up with vital passes at pivotal moments.
CM: Luka Modric - 7/10 - Likewise was unable to control the game for long portions but at least picked and chose when to turn it on.
RW: Fede Valverde - 5/10 - Found it hard to get into the game. Substituted with a knock soon after the restart.
CF: Rodrygo - 9/10 - Real Madrid's saviour once again in the absence of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior. Needed more support in order to sustain attacks.
LW: Dani Ceballos - 5/10 - Like Valverde couldn't make his presence known.
Substitutes
Eduardo Camavinga (54' for Valverde) - 6/10
Alvaro Rodriguez (66' for Mendy) - 6/10
Nacho (81' for Rodrygo) - N/A
Antonio Rudiger (81' for Lucas) - N/A
Manager
Carlo Ancelotti - 6/10 - Real Madrid weren't at their dominant best but that was understandable without their two best players.
Player of the match - Rodrygo (Real Madrid)
This article was originally published on 90min as Sevilla 1-2 Real Madrid: Player ratings as Rodrygo brace secures comeback win.
