Numancia celebrate their first goal in a thrilling match [GALLO/GETTY]

The newcomers from Soria, who beat Barcelona 1-0 on the opening day of the season, took an early lead through Joan Carlos Moreno.

Jose Barkero restored their advantage just after Guti had levelled for Real.

Dutchman's debut strike

Gonzalo Higuain, Rafael van der Vaart on his league debut, and an own-goal from Domingo Cisma gave the home side what appeared to be a comfortable 4-2 halftime lead on Sunday.

But Bernd Schuster's side were the ones hanging on at the end after Moreno's superb second-half free-kick had the visitors chasing an unlikely point in the closing stages.

"It was to be expected. These games after international weeks are always the hardest," Schuster said.

"When we were 4-2 up we didn't manage the game very well. We deserved to win by more but eased off too much in the second half."

Last-gasp Garcia

Earlier, Spain striker Luis Garcia snatched a late winner to give Espanyol a 1-0 away win over Recreativo Huelva and top place in La Liga.

Garcia completed a counter-attack by firing low into the far corner five minutes from time in a game with few chances for either side.

Espanyol have six points from two games, after beating Valladolid 1-0 at home in their season opener, and are two ahead of the pack with one match still to play this weekend.

Villarreal edged Deportivo Coruna 1-0 at home with a fine turn and shot from outside the area by Spain winger Santi Cazorla in the first half.

Getafe joined Villarreal on four points after drawing 0-0 at home with Real Betis, missing out on the chance to join Espanyol at the top when Juan Albin crashed a late penalty against the crossbar.

Villa leveller

Spain striker David Villa rescued a point for Valencia at Almeria after Argentine teen Pablo Piatti had opened the scoring in a 2-2 draw.

Brazilian keeper Renan failed to keep hold of a free kick on 20 minutes and Almeria's record signing was on hand to follow up.

Valencia defender Alexis equalised on 40 minutes before Almeria captain Negredo    made it 2-1 with six minutes of the half to go.

But Villa was on hand in the 68th minute to squeeze in a low shot from inside the box. Valencia go second, with Almeria in third.

Malaga and Athletic Bilbao played out a dull goalless draw after losing their opening matches, while Real Mallorca drew 1-1 with Osasuna.

Striker Aritz Aduriz scored his first goal for Mallorca from a tight angle after 16 minutes, but Osasuna scrambled a late equaliser when Javier Portillo met Jaroslav Plasil's cross with a firm shot six minutes from time.

Mallorca had defender Josemi sent off soon after.