Espanyol defeated Real Madrid 2: 1, causing their first defeat in La Liga and second in a row in all competitions on Sunday.

Raul de Tomas and Aleix Vidal scored once to secure Espanyol their second win of the season in the league, while Karim Benzema’s superb goal served only as a consolation for Real at the RCDE Stadium.

This is the third game in a row without a win for Carlo Ancelotti’s team and comes right after the embarrassing loss against Sheriff in the Champions League in the middle of the week.

Despite the loss, Real Madrid remains the leader of La Liga with 17 points, as much as the city rival Atletico Madrid has in second place. Espanyol in 12th place with nine points.

The locals took the lead early in the match, when De Tomas put the ball into the net from close range after a super action in the 17th minute.

Vidal, the former Barcelona full-back, doubled the lead for Espanyol, scoring a special individual goal.

Just four minutes later, Sergi Darder failed to triple the lead alone in front of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois after his shot went wide.

Courtios saved Real from another goal when he blocked De Tomas’s shot in the 70th minute.

Benzema brought Real back into the game when he passed almost the entire home defense to beat the goalkeeper with a beautiful shot from the area line in the 72nd minute.

Madrid had their chances to equalize and once equalized the score, but Eden Hazard’s goal was disallowed for offside position.

Espanyol managed to hold on until the end and achieved its second victory in the league in seven games.