Cristiano Ronaldo's 300th Real Madrid goal was not his only dramatic contribution in Wednesday's 2-0 La Liga win at Rayo Vallecano.
The three points for Los Blancos kept them four points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, who had earlier beaten struggling Almeria 4-0 at the Camp Nou.
However, Madrid and Ronaldo had seemed set for a frustrating night when the reigning Ballon d'Or holder was harshly booked for diving, and the game at the Estadio Vallecas remained scoreless past the hour mark.
However the Portuguese broke the deadlock, reaching the 300 mark in just 288 games with a diving header from Dani Carvajal's cross. And then soon afterwards, he teed up James Rodriguez for the second clinching goal.
Asked on Canal Plus about Ronaldo's celebration of his opener, when the 30-year-old appeared to gesture in frustration towards the linesman, Madrid director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno defended the Portuguese's character.
"What [Ronaldo] wants is to always score goals," Butragueno said. "At 2-0 up he was pressing their defenders. He always wants more, that is why he is so great. He is an example for all kids and other professionals, with his character and ambition, which all the greats have. That makes for such a positive contribution, for the team to win so many games."
Ronaldo's yellow nevertheless means that he -- along with Rodriguez and Toni Kroos -- are now suspended for Saturday afternoon's home game against Eibar, unless the club decide to appeal the decisions from referee Mario Melero Lopez.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said at his postmatch news conference that he had approached the official at the end of the game to complain about the penalty not given.
"I told [the referee] that it seemed to me incredible he did not whistle for a penalty," Ancelotti said.
The Los Blancos coach admitted his team had not played well during the opening half, but said he was happy with the intensity shown as they took control of the game after the break.
"More than Rayo dropping intensity, we upped ours more in second half," Ancelotti said. "We pressed more, and played very well with the ball. That did not happen so much in first half, we had too many loose passes. In the second half we played very well, we deserved to win."
Ancelotti also played down concerns that Luka Modric had suffered another hamstring problem, which arose when the Croatia midfielder was seen holding the muscle on the final whistle.
"We have had no problem [with Modric]," the Italian coach said. "It was clearly a very intense game, above all the second half. So at the end some players were a bit tired."
Gareth Bale, who had been a doubt for the game having taken a bang to his toe at training on Tuesday, had also come through the game without any problems, said Ancelotti.
"Bale did a test this morning, it all came out fine," he said. "He has recovered fine from the blow, played without any problems."
Ancelotti said his decision to start James in the game, and leave Isco on the bench, did not signal any long term policy.
"Each game has its own story and its own lineup," he said. "I thought that James could contribute to the team, and I chose him. But each game has a different lineup."