Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria struck a late winner as they overcame the sending off of Ricardo Carvalho to defeat Sevilla 1-0 in a fiery contest at the Bernabeu on Sunday evening.

Di Maria scored in the 77th minute after Madrid had been reduced to 10 men following Carvalho's 63rd-minute dismissal, and that proved to be the only goal of the game as Jose Mourinho's men trimmed Barcelona's lead at the summit back to two points.

Sevilla, who have now lost five in succession in La Liga, also finished the match without their full quota of players after Mouhamadou Dabo was dismissed in stoppage time for a straight red card.

Aside from the two dismissals, referee Carlos Clos Gomez also showed 12 yellow cards - nine to Madrid players - in a game with plenty of ill feeling, while the backroom staff on the two benches also vented their anger at each other towards the end of the first half.