Ten-man Real Madrid escaped with a point in an enthralling 1-1 draw with Mallorca at the Son Moix.

Mallorca started brightly, and may have taken the lead had Fernando Navarro's effort not been ruled out for a non-existent foul on Sergio Ramos.

They fell behind just before half-time though as Wesley Sneijder gave the Spanish champions the lead just before the break, benefiting from a superb run from Arjen Robben.

After a sustained spell of pressure from the home side, Ramos was harshly sent off for a second booking, and Mallorca made their numerical advantage count moments later when substitute Borja Valero curled home the equaliser.

Dani Guiza had a glorious chance to win it for Mallorca in the dying minutes when the ball fell to him unmarked and only a few yards out, but he blasted his volley into the ground and onto the bar.

The result sees Real Madrid extend their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points, while Mallorca leapfrog Athletic Bilbao into ninth.

The previous league meeting between these two sides had produced a thrilling 4-3 victory for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, and it seemed as if we were in for another high-scoring encounter as both sides went close in the opening five minutes.

First Raul sent Robben through, only for the Dutchman to screw his shot wide of goal, before Jonas Gutierrez almost caught Iker Casillas cold with an early shot after cutting in from the left wing.

Guiza then passed up a golden opportunity to break the deadlock midway through the first half. Under heavy pressure from Gabriel Heinze, the former Getafe man played a superb exchange with Ariel Ibagaza, only to smash the ball into the side-netting with only Casillas to beat.

It seemed as if Mallorca had finally taken the lead when Navarro slotted home at the back post, only to see his effort ruled out for an apparent foul on Ramos by Juan Arango. Justifiably aggrieved, the sell-out crowd in the stadium reached en-masse for their white handkerchiefs.

Few nationalities can show their disapproval in such a gloriously melodramatic fashion as the Spanish, and the white handkerchiefs were all out again soon after as a penalty shout for a handball against Fabio Cannavaro was, this time justifiably, waved away.

Real Madrid would at this stage have been happy to hear the half-time whistle, but a moment of magic from Robben against the run of play gave them the lead.

The mercurial Dutchman picked up the ball on the right wing and left two defenders for dead before slotting an inviting ball across the face of goal that his compatriot Sneijder smashed home from close range.

Mallorca enjoyed another fine spell of pressure at the start of the second half, though too often the quality of their final ball let them down as the champions relied on the defensive qualities of Cannavaro to dig them out of trouble on more than one occasion, while Arango saw a spectacular overhead kick go just past the post with Casillas beaten.

The islander's cause was helped when Real were reduced to ten men as Ramos was shown a second yellow card despite pulling out of a challenge on Navarro, and the incident proved to be key, as Real's creaking defence was finally blown open moments later.

Ibagaza fed Arango on the edge of the area, and the Venezuelan flicked the ball beautifully into the path of substitute Borja Valero, who curled the ball perfectly into the top right-hand corner.

The pressure was beginning to tell on Madrid as Heinze was booked for diving, and sensing his chance to go and grab the win, Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano replaced right-back Hector with striker Pierre Webo.

The move almost paid dividends with ten minutes to go, as the big Cameroonian's shot deflected off Heinze and into the path of Guiza, though he drove his shot into the ground and onto the bar when unmarked from just eight yards out.

That was to prove Mallorca's last big chance to go on and claim the three points they would have deserved, as Madrid managed to hold out in a style hardly befitting of champions.

Michael FitzGerald / Eurosport