Real Madrid had to dig deep to beat Mallorca 1-0 at home on Sunday, in a match the whites had to win in order to stay four points behind leaders Barcelona.
The whites played badly but were rescued by goalkeeper Iker Casillas — and by Karim Benzema.
The French forward was given a rare start by coach Jose Mourinho, who seems to have little faith in him, and responded with the only goal on the hour.
There were as many jeers as cheers when the final whistle sounded in the Estadio Bernabeu, with many fans expressing their disappointment that Mourinho’s team again failed to emulate the sparkle and inspiration shown all season by Barcelona.
Real, who have won all their home matches, now have 51 points from 20 games. Barca, who thrashed Racing Santander 3-0 on Sunday, have 55, which is a record at this stage of the season.
Mourinho tried to freshen up his midfield by bringing in Fernando Gago and Esteban Granero for Xabi Alonso and Mesut Oezil, but was forced to rectify after a turgid first-half display.
Mallorca midfielder Emilio Nsue hit Casillas’ post, Pierre Webo forced two sharp saves from the World Cup-winning keeper.
With Oezil and Alonso in the engine room after half-time, Real gradually too control. The only goal came in the 61st minute, when Benzema took a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo and scored with a perfectly placed shot.
Ronaldo then hit the crossbar, and Benzema came close to making it 2-0 on three occasions. Even so, Casillas had to pull off one final save from Webo, in stoppage-time.
