Rayo struck early. In the 11th minute, Lejeune found Jorge de Frutos in behind the defence and the winger squared the ball for Álvaro García, who arrived unmarked from the opposite flank and beat David Soria. Carvajal, playing a competitive match for the first time in five months, could not get across to cut out the pass.

Beñat San José's side had the initiative and Soria had to produce a fine save from a Camello shot. Shortly afterwards, in the 28th minute, Djené brought down Álvaro García as the winger broke towards goal, and referee González Esteban showed him a red card. Bordalás reshaped his defence by sending on Abqar in place of Terrats.

With the extra man, Rayo let Getafe off the hook. Camello blazed a clear chance for 0-2 over the bar and, moments later, Enes Ünal came close to levelling with a header that Audero turned onto the post.

Bordalás made changes at half-time, bringing on Francho and Andrés García for Kiko Femenía and Mario Martín. Getafe tightened their block, conceded possession to Rayo and waited for their chance from wide deliveries. It came shortly before the hour: Satriano threw himself at a ball swung into the box and, with an acrobatic finish, made it 1-1.

Rayo pushed forward again in the closing stages in search of making their numerical advantage count, but came up against a deep-lying Getafe and an alert Soria. The home side even had a counter-attack to snatch victory, but Audero responded with a fine save from a Satriano effort.

Carvajal, who grew into the game as it went on, left the pitch in the 80th minute for Boselli. "By the end I had cramp and asked to come off, but I'm happy to be enjoying myself on the pitch again," he said after the final whistle. "We went down to ten early, but we have to take a positive reading because the team picked itself up. The point is a positive one."

Before kick-off, the Coliseum paid tribute to José Bordalás for his 350 matches in charge of Getafe. The draw leaves both sides level on nine points. Getafe are back in action on Thursday at the Coliseum, against Lugano in the Conference League.