Real Madrid suffered their first La Liga defeat of the season and are now winless in three after losing 2-1 to a brilliant Espanyol in Barcelona.
The visitors made the stronger start, dominating possession in midfield and looking sharp in attack, with Karim Benzema testing his former Real teammate Diego Lopez with a couple of early sighters.
But as Benzema and co attacked in numbers they left gaps at the back, and when Adri Embarba won the ball in midfield, he ran freely into Real territory and forced a smart, diving save from Thibaut Courtois.
And it was Embarba´s brilliant work down the right which saw Espanyol take the lead. The winger ran free of Eduardo Camavinga before crossing brilliantly for Raul de Tomas, whose smart touch at the front post found the back of the net.
The second half started as the first with Real in control, but again Espanyol took advantage of Real´s leaking defence to double their lead.
Aleix Vidal picked the ball up in midfield, raced past a hapless Nacho Fernandez before guiding the ball beyond Courtois in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Espanyol should have had three moments later when De Tomas was through on goal, only to see his effort fly inches wide of the post.
Real brought on Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic as they pushed for an equaliser. It was talisman Benzema who gave Los Blancos hope, cutting inside before lashing home to pull one back for the visitors.
Real pushed forward in numbers but were unable to grab the equaliser against a brilliantly organised defence, and finish off a torrid week with another defeat after they lost to Sheriff in midweek.
Carlo Ancelotti´s men remain top of the table, but must regroup during the international break and escape the slump.
