Real are on 24 points, two ahead of Barcelona and the top two will go head-to-head in next Sunday's El Clasico. Getafe are 12th in the standings on 11 points.
Kylian Mbappe continued his impressive scoring streak as his 10th goal in nine league games earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Getafe on Sunday and sent his side back to the top of the LaLiga in a game where the hosts finished with nine men.
Real struggled to find a way past a stubborn Getafe until Allan Nyom was sent off 13 minutes from time, one minute after coming off the bench, and Mbappe scored three minutes later.
Alex Sancris was then sent off for a second booking before the end.
Real are on 24 points, two ahead of Barcelona and the top two will go head-to-head in next Sunday's El Clasico. Getafe are 12th in the standings on 11 points.
"We're very happy with Kylian Mbappe," Real manager Xabi Alonso told reporters.
"Goals win you games, but I don't like people saying we depend on Mbappe, there's a lot of hard work behind it.
Alonso continued his habit of rotating the starting side, leaving both Vinicius Jr and Arda Guler on the bench while handing Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo rare starts.
The game began with both sets of players standing still for 15 seconds, part of a protest organised by the Spanish Footballers' Association over LaLiga's decision to play December's match between Villarreal and Barcelona in the United States.
In reality, the match took even longer to get going.
Mbappe was a constant threat in the opening half, taking his side into the opposition area, but his own teammates often appeared to be operating on different wavelengths.
Aurelien Tchouameni's shot from distance went narrowly over and on the stroke of halftime David Alaba's powerful free kick was parried away by the keeper with Federico Valverde's follow-up effort well off target.
Getafe spent most of the opening half keeping Real at bay, but Sancris volleyed narrowly wide shortly before the break to fire a warning shot.
With Real no closer to finding the net, Vinicius replaced the unimpressive Franco Mastantuono 10 minutes after the interval and Guler made his entrance after another uneventful 10 minutes.
Nyom saw red for a foul on Vinicius and Real wasted little time in taking advantage. When Guler's defence-splitting pass found Mbappe with his back to goal, the French forward turned, took the ball into the area and smashed his shot past David Soria.
"We lacked concentration after that red card. That's football," Getafe's Dakonam Djene told Movistar Plus.
"Today we deserved more and we missed a point."
Mbappe, who has also scored five in two Champions League games, and keeper Thibaut Courtois are the two players Alonso cannot do without this season, and Courtois denied Abu Kamara in added time to deny Getafe an equaliser.
Before the top of the table clash with Barcelona, Real host Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League.
"Coming to Getafe is not easy," Alonso added.
"You know that it may not be the most beautiful match. We were focused and did what we had to do. It's a win that allows us to start the week with very good energy."
Leao double sends Milan top with 2-1 win over Fiorentina
Rafael Leao scored a double to fire AC Milan to a 2-1 comeback win over Fiorentina at the San Siro on Sunday and send his side top of Serie A.
Milan made the most of their title rivals' defeats - with Napoli losing 1-0 at Torino and AS Roma going down 1-0 at home to Inter Milan on Saturday - and Leao was the home side's returning hero on his first start of the season.
"We worked as a team, it was difficult and we didn't create many chances, but once we broke the deadlock, the team emerged," Leao told DAZN.
Fiorentina took the lead 10 minutes after the break when Robin Gosens bundled the ball over the line after Milan's defence failed to deal with Luca Ranieri's header across goal.
Leao's low strike from outside the area beat David de Gea for the equaliser eight minutes later and when Fabiano Parisi fouled Santiago Gimenez the Portuguese forward converted the penalty four minutes from time.
Milan are on 16 points, one point ahead of the three-pronged chasing pack made up of Inter, Napoli and Roma. Fiorentina, managed by ex-Milan coach Stefano Pioli, are still winless this season and are 18th in the standings on three points.
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