MADRID, Oct 16 (AFP) - A trademark poacher's strike from Ronaldo saved Real Madrid's blushes at Real Betis on Saturday as his second-half effort rescued a point in a 1-1 draw.
The goal leaves Real marooned in midtable with ten points from their seven league matches this season but their performance did little to suggest they are in the mood to steamroller Dynamo Kiev in next week's make-or break Champions League encounter at the Bernabeu.
Iker Casillas in the Real goal was the busier of the two keepers as Betis went for the jugular and they smelt blood as several early chances went begging before the hosts, showing greater urgency in front of their home fans than their feted rivals, took the lead on the half hour.
Oliveira deftly swept home a first-time shot after a neat through ball from Fernando caught Real's defence napping.
Just when it looked as if Real were on the verge of slumping to their fourth league defeat in seven games this season up popped goal machine Ronaldo to drill home in similar style after a one-two with Zinedine Zidane in the 65th minute.
In the late game, unbeaten leaders Barcelona, who have dropped just two points all season to date, were in local derby action across the city at Espanyol.
Reigning champions Valencia, meet Seville at home on Sunday.
Raul thought he had put Real into a 28th-minute lead but his header from a floated pass by Luis Figo was chalked off for offside.
Figo and Zidane were called upon to rouse Real's engine room in the absence of England star David Beckham, whose hairline rib fracture sustained in a World Cup qualifier against Wales last weekend will keep him out of action for over a month.
Beckham could theoretically return to action at the Bernabeu against some of his Real teammates as England visit for a friendly international against Spain on November 17 but the indications are that he will not feature.
Casillas performed heroics right after the restart in dropping to his left to keep out an Oliveira piledriver as Betis continued to enjoy the bulk of the chances.
But Zidane almost snatched an unlikely win bonus for Real right at the death with a meaty effort which Tony Prats in the home goal did well to save.
Earlier, Deportivo La Coruna warmed up for next week's Champions League visit of Liverpool with their first home win of the season, by a wafer-thin 2-1 margin against promoted Getafe.
Javier Irureta's Deportivo have struggled this season but goals from Sergio on 17 minutes and Victor 17 minutes from the end gave the northwesterners their third win this term to shunt them into the top half of the table.
Mario Cotelo netted in the final seconds for Getafe's consolation.