( CNN ) -- Real Madrid snatched a 3-2 victory at Valencia to remain five points behind Spanish leaders Barcelona , who triumphed 1-0 in the Catalan derby with Espanyol earlier on Saturday night . Real , missing the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo , needed an 83rd-minute winner from substitute defender Ezequiel Garay as all five goals came in the second half at the Mestalla . Madrid had twice gone ahead through Garay 's fellow Argentinian Gonzalo Higuain but Valencia -- who won last season 's corresponding fixture 3-0 -- battled back through Spain striker David Villa and Joaquin Sanchez . Sergio Ramos headed against the post in the first half , but Real suffered a big blow when fellow defender Pepe was stretchered off just before the interval after the Portugal international fell awkwardly . Higuain , who turned 22 on Thursday , headed the opening goal from Karim Benzema 's cross nine minutes after the break , but Villa leveled six minutes later as he headed in off the underside of the crossbar from Jeremy Mathieu 's cross to make up for David Navarro 's close-range miss just beforehand . Marcelo then set up Higuain for his eighth goal this season -- all of which have come in the past seven games -- but substitute Joaquin beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas at his near post in the 80th minute . However , Garay 's glancing header from Xabi Alonso 's free-kick kept Real in touch with Barca , who have played one more match . The Spanish and European champions needed a controversial penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to edge past their city rivals Espanyol at the Nou Camp . The Swede slotted his 11th league goal this season , one behind top scorer Villa , after Xavi went down in the area despite minimal contact from former Barcelona youth player Raul Baena six minutes before halftime . The hosts started with Thierry Henry in the absence of injured European player of the year Lionel Messi , but the Frenchman and Ibrahimovic were unable to take advantage of several chances . Pep Guardiola 's team will now head to Dubai for the FIFA World Club Cup , where they will meet Atlante in the semifinals following the Mexican team 's 3-0 win against New Zealand champions Auckland on Saturday . Espanyol suffered a fifth straight defeat , but can not end the weekend in the relegation zone thanks to Real Zaragoza 's 2-1 defeat at home to Athletic Bilbao earlier on Saturday . The Basque side bounced back from last weekend 's 2-1 home defeat to Valencia to go seventh above Sporting Gijon , who host fourth-placed Sevilla on Sunday . Sevilla are one point behind Valencia , who trail Barcelona by 11 and Real by six .
Real Madrid win 3 -2 at Valencia to remain 3 points behind Basque leaders Barcelona . Substitute defender Ezequiel Garay heads late winner as all five goals come in this season . Fellow Argentine Gonzalo Higuain twice put Real ahead against fourth -placed Valencia . Real Madrid win Catalan derby against Espanyol thanks to controversial penalty .