Real Madrid win at El Sadar to take another step forward in LaLiga

Real Madrid‘s opener was a goal that Carlo Ancelotti would’ve taken pride in. A well-worked freekick ended up with Karim Benzema squaring for David Alaba, and the Austrian turned home at the second time of asking after his first shot had been stopped.

That lead barely lasted a minute though. Ante Budimir levelled instantly after Chimy Avila had broken forward and crossed, allowing the former to finish easily. Budimir again had the ball in the net shortly after the half-hour mark but his strike was chalked off for offside.

Real Madrid did go in at the break with a lead though, with Marco Asensio restoring their advantage on the stroke of half time, finishing after Dani Ceballos had seen an effort saved.

A bizarre eight-minute spell in the second half saw ‘Los Blancos’ awarded two penalties, and Benzema remarkably failed with both of his attempts from 12 yards.

Deep into stoppage time, though, Lucas Vazquez made sure of the points. Fine play between Benzema and Toni Kroos saw the ball switched to Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian worked it to Lucas to finish.

Ancelotti’s Real Madrid now have a 17-point lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid, each with 33 games played. They are yet to be crowned champions, though, as Barcelona are on 60 points and have played two games fewer, while Sevilla in fourth have one point fewer than Atleti with one game in hand over both Madrid clubs.

Benzema frustrated by keeping heroics

Benzema entered Wednesday’s LaLiga clash on a high following a sparkling run of form. Since the start of March he has smashed 13 goals for Madrid in just eight games, a streak that has sent ‘Los Blancos’ to the Champions League semi-finals and to the brink of the Primera Division title.

The veteran has also been deadly from the spot, converting nine and missing just two of the 11 penalties he had taken prior to the trip to Osasuna. Yet Herrera proved his equal, saving both efforts after 51 and 58 minutes to keep the hosts within a single goal – making him the first Liga player to err twice from the spot in a single game for 16 years.

David Alaba and Marco Asensio both scored in the first half for the title hopefuls, while Ante Budimir kept Osasuna in touch with his own early strike.