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| Gareth Bale celebrates his goal for Real Madrid. Photo: AP |
Real Madrid returned to winning ways after consecutive defeats when the La Liga leaders shrugged off playing most of the second half with 10 men to secure a 3-0 win at home to mid-table Espanyol.
Beaten 2-1 at Valencia in La Liga last weekend and 2-0 at Atlético Madrid in a Copa del Rey last 16, first leg in midweek, Real took the lead at their Bernabéu when Cristiano Ronaldo set James RodrÃguez up to score in the 12th minute.
Gareth Bale arrowed a free-kick over the wall and into the net off a post to make it 2-0 in the 28th minute but Fábio Coentrão was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle eight minutes into the second half.
Despite the loss of the full-back, Real remained in control and the substitute Nacho clipped home a third goal for the European champions, the defender’s first for the club, 14 minutes from time.
The victory stretched Real’s lead over second-placed Barcelona at the top to four points. Barça play at home to champions Atlético, who are third and level on 38 points with their hosts, on Sunday.
Real, whose Spanish record winning streak of 22 matches was ended by Valencia, have a game in hand over Barça and Atlético, with all three teams now having played 17 matches.
Valencia
Valencia
Valencia missed a chance to close within a point of Barca and Atletico when they drew 1-1 at Celta Vigo.
After Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves had saved a 28th-minute Fabian Orellana penalty, Rodrigo fired the visitors ahead two minutes before the break before Orellana made amends with a well-taken equaliser in the 61st.
Valencia have 35 points in fourth and can be overtaken by fifth-placed Sevilla (33) if the Andalusians win at Almeria on Sunday.
Villarreal (32) and Malaga (31) stayed sixth and seventh respectively after drawing 1-1 at the latter's La Rosaleda stadium on the south coast.
Real, whose Spanish record winning streak of 22 matches was ended by Valencia, will have played one game fewer than Barca and Atletico by the end of the weekend.
Isco said Saturday's win would lift the players for Thursday's return leg at home to Atletico when they need to score at least twice to have any hope of retaining their trophy.
"It's going to be tough but we will devote all our energy to the task," he added. "With the support of the fans I think we can mount a comeback."
Reuters
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