Ten-man Real Madrid continued their remarkable run of success against city rivals Atletico at the Vicente Calderon, but they were given a huge scare after almost surrendering a 3-0 lead in an incident-packed derby.

Real have not lost a league game at this ground since the 1998/99 season, and they looked set to cruise to another victory as goals from Kaka, Marcelo and Gonzalo Higuain put them in total control midway through the second half.

However, the 65th-minute dismissal of Sergio Ramos gave Atletico a lifeline and the struggling hosts pulled goals back through Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero before mounting a sustained - if ultimately unsuccessful - bid for a late equaliser.

Real's win kept them within a point of leaders Barcelona, who beat Real Mallorca 4-2 earlier in the evening.

Aside from their total domination in this fixture, Real also have made a habit of scoring early goals here in recent years, with Raul netting after just 48 seconds two seasons ago and Ruud van Nistelrooy notching even quicker last season.

And it was a familiar story again today, with Kaka putting the visitors after just four minuntes.

The Brazilian was given far too much time on the edge of the box and he took advantage by rifling a shot past Sergio Asenjo's right hand and into the top corner.

That was the perfect start for Real, and they dominated for the next half-hour with Lassana Diarra, Pepe and Ramos all going close from distance.

And Asenjo was powerless to stop Marcelo making it 2-0 in the 24th minute as Madrid made their dominance count.

Karim Benzema's pass looked to have pushed Marcelo too near to the goalline, but the Brazilian spun and sent a thunderous shot into the roof of the net with his less-favoured right foot.

At that point it looked set to be a Real walkover, but going two goals behind actually sparked Atletico into life and they came within a whisker of getting a goal back in the 30th minute when Forlan struck the outside of the post from Simao Sabrosa's cross.

Poor control from Forlan then saw him spurn another opening, while at the other end Asenjo did superbly to keep turn behind Benzema's stabbed shot.

The final chance of the half fell to Atletico, and really should have seen Simao reduce the deficit, but he was denied by a brilliant one-handed block by Iker Casillas when clean through.

Atletico boss Quique Sanchez Flores decided to unleash Aguero at half-time, having started with him on the bench, but it was Real who began the second period better with Benzema twice going close.

Atletico were looking better with Aguero on the pitch, though, and they were starting to build some pressure before an awful defensive mistake from Luis Perea saw any momentum lost as he allowed Real to go 3-0 up.

The centre-back lost possession to Higuain on the edge of his own box, and the Argentinian charged into the area before coolly slotting past Asenjo.

There appeared no way back for Atletico, but they were handed a glimmer of hope when Ramos was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Aguero on the edge of the box.

As Ramos was making his way off the pitch, there was a commotion by the Real bench and it appeared as though coach Manuel Pellegrini had been struck in the face by something thrown from the crowd.

The referee came over to check on the Chilean, and play continued with Pellegrini still standing on the touchline and seemingly unhurt.

Back on the pitch, Atletico could not make the most of their dangerous free-kick as Simao fired wide.

Casillas then denied Tomas Ujfalusi and Cleber Santana as Atletico looked to make their numerical advantage count, and the home side did just that as strike duo Forlan and Aguero pulled goals back to set up a grandstand finish.

Forlan made it 3-1 in the 78th minute after slotting home Simao's cross, and then two minutes later Aguero muscled aside Pepe before firing a low shot past Casillas.

Atletico set up camp around the Real area and Aguero had a great chance to level in the injury time when faced only with Casillas, but the Spain number one saved with his feet as the visitors held on for the win.