Real Madrid produced one of the most remarkable comebacks in their recent history to move to within three points of Primera Division leaders Barcelona following a breathtaking end to the derby with Getafe.
Madrid's title hopes looked to be going up in smoke when, with the score at 2-2 and only three minutes left of normal time, Getafe won a penalty in an incident that also saw Madrid lose Pepe to a red card.
But Javi Casquero's dinked penalty was saved by Iker Casillas and then, as the game entered injury-time, Gonzalo Higuain slammed a stunning left-footed drive into the roof of the Getafe net to earn 10-man Madrid an astonishing 3-2 victory.
That triumph means Madrid have now taken 49 out of a possible 51 points and halved the deficit to leaders Barcelona, who face a tough home match against Sevilla tomorrow.
Nobody could have predicted the late fireworks from Madrid after Juande Ramos' side produced one of their worst 45-minute spells of the season during the first half - only for Higuain to pop up on the stroke of half-time to net a wholly undeserved equalizer.
The home side were trailing 1-0 at that stage, but could easily have been 3-0 down with former Madrid striker Roberto Soldado having a hat-trick of chances inside the opening 22 minutes.
Fortunately for the home side though Soldado only converted one of them as he got on the end of a 10th-minute cross from another former Madrid player, Esteban Granero, to head past Iker Casillas.
The next 34 minutes will be something Madrid will want to forget in a hurry, with misplaced passes, poor control, no chances and an increasingly irate crowd combining to make the Bernabeu an uncomfortable place to be for the home team.
That was until the 44th minute though, when Madrid somehow managed equalize with what was their first chance of the half, Higuain muscling aside Cata Diaz before rounding Vladimir Stojkovic and slotting home.
The relief around the Bernabeu was tangible, and the half-time introduction of Arjen Robben gave both the fans and the home side a further boost.
However, after an encouraging start that saw Sergio Ramos bring a good block out of Stojkovic, Madrid again started stuttering and Getafe should have re-taken the lead on the hour-mark through substitute Juan Albin, only for poor control to see the chance squandered.
Madrid then suffered a huge setback when Robben was replaced just 18 minutes after coming on, having seemingly picked up another injury. That left Madrid with an even bigger challenge, but the home side looked more threatening in the final 20 minutes than they had for the rest of the match.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Higuain and Ramos all went close, while at the other end Soldado headed a gilt-edged chance over.
The match was now really starting to come alive, and the final 10 minutes were simply breathtaking.
Albin started the chaos by putting Getafe back into the lead with a fine first-time finish, and with only six minutes of normal time left that looked set to earn the visitors their third successive win over Madrid.
However, the home side managed to get themselves back on level terms just two minutes later when Guti curled a brilliant free-kick into the top corner.
Madrid's joy turned to despair a minute later though when Casquero broke through on goal and went tumbling under Pepe's challenge.
A furious Pepe was then shown a red card, but there was to be another twist as Casquero's poor spot-kick was saved by Casillas and gave Madrid an unexpected chance to snatch the win.
And they managed just that as Higuain produced a brilliant 20-yard finish to send the Bernabeu wild and potentially strike a massive blow in the title race.
