Juan Albin was the star of the show as Getafe upset local rivals Real Madrid to make it a miserable return to his former club for Bernd Schuster.
Albin struck twice at the start of each half and also set up substitute Ike Uche for Getafe's third as the small club from the outskirts of Madrid prevented their more illustrious neighbours from moving level with Barcelona at the summit.
Javier Saviola pulled a goal back for Madrid, but the champions can have no complaints about the result and the scoreline could even have been even more embarrassing for Schuster's outclassed side.
Getafe upset Barcelona last week when they held Pep Guardiola's side to a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp, ending a run of nine successive victories for the Catalan outfit, and they needed just two minutes of tonight's encounter to make things uncomfortable for Madrid.
That was the time it took for Albin to give the home side the lead, powering a thumping header past Iker Casillas after Jaime Gavilan had done well down the left.
Two minutes later the Getafe crowd, or those who had turned up in what was a surprisingly poor attendance for this local derby, felt their side should have been awarded a penalty when Casillas appeared to drag down Esteban Granero in the box.
It was an impressive start by the home side, and Cosmin Contra also went close in the 11th minute when he drilled a shot just over following a brilliant run.
Madrid were not without their chances either though, and Saviola and Raul were both denied by effective, if unconventional, saves by Roberto Abbondanzieri. Marcelo and Fernando Gago also went close with decent efforts but Madrid still went in at half-time a goal down.
That was not the sum total of the champion’s problems either, as their injury curse struck twice in the first half with both Wesley Sneijder and Miguel Torres being forced out of the action.
Bernd Schuster was already without Ruud van Nistelrooy, Gonzalo Higuain, Arjen Robben, Mahamadou Diarra, Fabio Cannavaro, Ruben de la Red and Gabriel Heinze, so to lose two more players was a major blow.
Worse was to follow at the start of the second period as well, as Albin put Getafe two goals ahead.
The goal actually stemmed from a Madrid attack that went wrong, with the spring-heeled Albin picking up possession on the halfway line, leaving Gago trailing in his wake and then lashing a shot past Casillas at his near post.
Madrid looked in all sorts of trouble at that point, but the champions earned themselves a lifeline when Saviola pulled a goal back in the 55th minute.
Guti did superbly to win the ball off towering Getafe centre-back Cata Diaz before threading a pass through to Saviola, who took one touch before coolly firing his shot into the top corner with the outside of his foot.
Getafe will have been hugely disappointed to have let slip their stranglehold on the game, but Victor Munoz's side were unlucky not to restore their two-goal lead in the 62nd minute when Eugen Polanski's 20-yard effort struck the inside of the far post.
That was not the only chance Getafe had either as Munoz's side enjoyed a 20-minute spell during the second half when they ripped through Madrid's defence almost at will.
The hosts had to wait until nine minutes from time before getting the third goal they deserved though, with Albin this time turning provider to set up Uche.
Albin looked to have wasted a good shooting chance when he tried to get back on his preferred left foot, but that allowed him the chance to pick out Uche inside the area and the Nigerian made no mistake.
Uche had two decent chances to increase Getafe's lead in the closing stages, but it mattered little as Madrid rarely looked like getting back into the game at the other end.
