Angry Real Madrid fans jeered their own team before they went on to beat Levante 2-0 in La Liga on Saturday to record new coach Alvaro Arbeloa's first win at the helm.
Villarreal, third, stumbled to a 2-0 defeat at Real Betis, hampering their attempts at mounting a title challenge.
Arbeloa's debut after replacing Xabi Alonso ended in a humiliating Copa del Rey defeat in midweek at second-tier Albacete, but second-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Raul Asencio secured Madrid three vital points at a moody Santiago Bernabeu.
Second-place Madrid cut the gap on leaders Barcelona to one point before the in-form Spanish champions visit Real Sociedad on Sunday.
🏁 FP: @RealMadrid 2-0 @LevanteUD
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) January 17, 2026
⚽ 58' @KMbappe (p.)
⚽ 65' @RaulAsencio_17
👉 @Emirates pic.twitter.com/FEebrvsgPk
Star players Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham came in for ire from the home fans after a disastrous week. Mbappe also started but was spared the jeers.
The French forward had been expected to return for the Champions League game against Monaco next week as he manages his recovery from a knee sprain.
"I've always respected the Bernabeu (crowd), they whistled me a lot too (as a player), and it's one of the aspects that make this club so great, how demanding the fans are," said Arbeloa, defending the right of the fans to express themselves.
It was Arbeloa's 43rd birthday and he was eventually able to celebrate with a victory, although his team lacked energy and spark in the first half.
That was not the case in the stands as a significant part of the crowd harangued their own team, in response to a wild week at the club.
Los Blancos lost the Spanish Super Cup final to rivals Barcelona in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, parted ways with Alonso on Monday and then crashed out of the cup on Wednesday.
Some fans also chanted for president Florentino Perez to resign in a sour atmosphere in the Spanish capital.
Mbappe had the best chance of a flat first half against the team in 19th in La Liga. Reaching a long ball the French superstar met it with a volley that flew wide of the post.
A STEP FORWARD
Home fans jeered their side in at the break and Madrid emerged for the second half with more impetus, with Arbeloa bringing on Franco Mastantuono and Arda Guler.
Mbappe drew a foul in the area from Adrian de la Fuente to earn a penalty, which he dispatched for his 19th league goal of the campaign.
Mbappe has scored 50 goals in 53 La Liga games, taking only a little longer than Real Madrid's all-time top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo to reach the milestone.
The Portuguese managed it in 51 appearances.
Asencio doubled Madrid's advantage with a header into the top corner from Guler's corner as the hosts took control.
Bellingham came close to adding a third but Mathew Ryan parried his header and then saved Vinicius's effort after a darting run from the Brazilian.
Ryan thwarted Bellingham again as tensions calmed by the end, with the crowd temporarily sated by the victory. Unless Madrid can build on it, the jeers and whistles will return.
"Today was a very important day, playing in front of our fans, we wanted to turn around the situation," Asencio told Real Madrid TV.
"What happened at Albacete should not have happened, we felt guilty and we wanted to make things better."
Elsewhere, Vedat Muriqi scored a hat-trick for Mallorca in a 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao, before Villarreal fell to defeat at La Cartuja.
Desde Güiza en la Condomina pic.twitter.com/glgtcQz7l2
— RCD Mallorca (@RCD_Mallorca) January 17, 2026
Aitor Ruibal and Pablo Fornals's second-half goals helped Betis earn an impressive victory over Marcelino Garcia Toral's visitors.
The loss leaves Villarreal eight points behind leaders Barcelona and damaged their chances of competing for a first-ever La Liga title.
Betis had more of the ball in an otherwise even first half before Ruibal volleyed them ahead after 57 minutes.
Santi Comesana's red card for a rash challenge on Giovani Lo Celso made Villarreal's job harder and Fornals killed the game by drilling home with precision from outside the area with seven minutes remaining.
"It was a hard-fought game, the details led to Betis winning, I think a draw would have been fairest," Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo told Movistar.
"We lacked the finishing touch but had some clear chances... I think the team showed up well, but in both boxes we weren't quite good enough."