A late penalty from Sergio Ramos was enough to lift Real Madrid over a very tough Getafe side on Thursday night at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

It was far from Madrid's typically crisp self since the resumption of LaLiga, but an excellent run from Dani Carvajal late in the second half provoked the match-deciding penalty call, and Ramos coolly converted from the spot to give Los Blancos a four-point advantage in the table over Barcelona.

Zinedine Zidane opted to stick with the 4-4-2 formation that he has been using in recent contests, and with Eden Hazard rested, Vinicius was tabbed as Karim Benzema's partner up top. Ferland Mendy returned to the left-back position ahead of Marcelo, while Fede Valverde was the odd man out in midfield.

Los Blancos goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been in good form lately and continued that early on with an excellent save when Nemanja Maksimovic's header deflected off of Xabi Etxeita, forcing the Belgian to make a big stop.

The goalkeeping was just as good at the other end as well, as David Soria had to stretch his fingertips to prevent Vinicius' redirect off a cross from Mendy from entering the net.

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A corner kick that slammed into the side side of Raphael Varane's head forced Zidane into his first change, with Eder Militao replacing the starting center-back.

Still, the tempo favored Getafe and the visitors from the southern suburbs were feeling good about retreating to the half-time dressing room with a 0-0 scoreline.

Usually, after a scoreless first 45 minutes, Zidane likes to increase the pressure and it yields a bevy of chances, but there was not the case against the always resolute Getafe defense outside of a Luka Modric shot from distance that deflected wide.

By the hour mark, the French boss had seen enough, so Fede Valverde, Marco Asensio, and Rodrygo were all summoned off the bench to replace Modric, Vinicius, and Isco, respectively.

The hosts' attack was noticeably more dynamic with the three subs on the pitch, but it was Carvajal who would make the match-changing play with a run into the area and a cut-back that drew an ill-disciplined foul from Mathias Olivera. Captain Ramos stepped up and snuck the penalty under the diving Soria to hand Madrid a late 1-0 lead.

From there it was a clinical final 15 minutes from Zidane's men, who closed things out with aplomb to make it six wins out of six since the return of football and another step toward the LaLiga Santander title.

MARCA