Seville, Spain, Aug 28 (EFE) - Dani Carvajal celebrated his return from injury after beating Real Madrid 1-0 at Real Betis here on Saturday.
With 7 points from three matches, Blancos are on a par with Sevilla, Valencia and Mallorca, but they sit atop LaLiga with Villarreal on goals pending Sunday's competition of champions Atlético Madrid.
Vinless Betis is at 14th position with 2 points.
Bringing Carvajal back made it easier for coach Carlo Ancelotti to score the opening 11 as Nacho Fernandez, Marcelo, Ferland Mendy, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Danny Ceballos are out of commission.
There was also an adjustment not decided by injury, as the Italian opted to reward Vinicius Junior for the three goals he scored as a sub in the first two games by giving Vinicius Jr the start instead of Eden Hazard.
The hosts largely kept Real Madrid at bay in the first half and ended the match with over half possession and twice as many shots on target.
Karim Benzema deflected a goal from Betis' goalkeeper Rui Silva for an offside as they beat Portugal international a minute before Gareth Bale's combination at the start of the second half.
The breakthrough came in the 61st minute when Carvajal with the help of Benzema sent a volley past to Silva.
Late sub Marco Asensio had a chance to seal victory and Blanco's keeper Thibaut Courtois had to make a stop against MartÃn Montoya in the final game to guarantee all 3 points and secure the first clean sheet of Real Madrid's campaign. EFE Agriculture/Dr