Gareth Bale twice came to Real Madrid's rescue to salvage a 2-2 draw at Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday but the Wales forward ended the night in despair as he was sent off in added time for receiving two yellow cards.

Real fell behind in the 11th minute when their captain, Sergio Ramos, lost the ball in his own half and Villarreal broke quickly, with Gerard Moreno scoring from a rebound.

Bale equalized in first-half stoppage time by tapping in a cross from Dani Carvajal but Villarreal restored their lead in the 74th minute through Moi Gómez, after Karim Benzema had a goal ruled out for offside.

Bale again pulled Madrid out of trouble with a powerful low strike in the 88th minute but contrived to get himself sent off by earning two yellow cards for fouls in stoppage time.

Madrid have picked up five points from their opening three games, one more than the champions, Barcelona, but Zinedine Zidane’s side are four points behind the early leaders, Atlético Madrid, who have won all three matches.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Atletico Madrid maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season by staging a remarkable comeback from two goals down to beat Eibar 3-2 at home thanks to a 90th-minute strike from midfielder Thomas Partey.

Diego Simeone's side had kept clean sheets in their opening two games but fell behind in the seventh minute to a headed goal from 35-year-old striker Charles and defender Anaitz Arbilla doubled Eibar's lead with a deflected effort in the 19th.

Atleti's new signing Joao Felix pulled the home side back into contention in the 27th minute by scoring his first La Liga goal for the club, side-footing a simple pass from strike partner Diego Costa into the net from close range.

Vitolo, the match-winner last week at Leganes, grabbed the equalizer early in the second half with a cool finish into the bottom corner and Costa had a strike ruled out for offside.

But Partey snatched a winner with a late show of strength and determination to fight off two defenders in the box before smashing the ball into the net.

Atletico are the only team in the Spanish top flight to have won all three of their games and they lead the La Liga standings with nine points, five more than last year's champions Barcelona.