Real Madrid continued to cling to the coat-tails of city rivals Atlético in the La Liga title race after winning 2-0 at home against Valencia. First-half goals from Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos won the game as Zinedine Zidane’s team moved above Barcelona and into second place in the table, five points behind leaders Atlético, who have two games in hand.
There was a nervous early moment from Jaume Doménech when the Valencia goalkeeper misjudged Casemiro’s long-range shot, diving past the ball before having to desperately flick out a leg to divert it over the crossbar
Doménech was beaten two minutes later when Madrid took the lead. Benzema drifted beyond Thierry Correia before whipping a low shot into the bottom corner of the net from just outside the box. Benzema would have had a second goal after half an hour had it not been for a brilliant saving block by Gabriel.
Doménech beat away a 25-yard effort by Luka Modric as the hosts searched for a second goal, which arrived three minutes before half time when Kroos stylishly steered Lucas Vazquez’s cutback into the net from the edge of the penalty area.
Valencia offered very little but almost halved the deficit early in the second half when Maxi Gómez’s fierce strike forced Thibaut Courtois into an acrobatic save to tip it away. The margin of victory would have been greater for Madrid had Domenech not made a fine save to block another Benzema effort, while Ferland Mendy had a goal chalked off by VAR.
Guardian International
