Seville (Spain), Jan 25 (IANS): Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 daw by Real Betis that left the Spanish giants four points off the top slot in La Liga.

Betis, which has been winless in 11 straight matches, at least managed to break its seven game scoreless streak when Alvaro Cedujo connected with a powerful blast seven minutes into play on Sunday, reports Efe.

The home squad managed to stymie Madrid's offensive game for most of the match.

However, 19 minutes before the final whistle, Karim Benzema evened things up, avoiding what would have been a humiliating defeat for the third-placed squad by the 14th-ranked Betis.

This was the first time Real Madrid had failed to pick up a win under Zinedine Zidane - after he took over for Rafa Benitez - although those two such victories were notched at home in Santiago Bernabeu stadium and this was an away match.

"We dropped two points, that is the negative part, but there were positive things too. And we have to think we can overcome, this because the league (season) is very long," Zidane said.

"We deserved much more from the game we played. We were unlucky."

The match was played before some 48,000 fans at Benito Villamarin stadium.