Real Madrid beats Alavés 2-0 for 8th straight win in title march

Madrid will finish the season with matches against Granada, Villarreal, and Leganşs

July 11, 2020 06:32 am | Updated 06:32 am IST - BARCELONA, Spain

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema with coach Zinedine Zidane after being substituted, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema with coach Zinedine Zidane after being substituted, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease

Karim Benzema helped Real Madrid move one step closer to dethroning Lionel Messi’s Barcelona on Friday.

Benzema scored one goal and set up another to lead Madrid to beating Alavşs 2-0 and restoring a four-point lead over Barcelona in the Spanish league with only three rounds left.

Benzema scored a penalty kick in the 11th minute and assisted Marco Asensio in the 50th to ensure an eighth straight victory since La Liga resumed play after stopping for three months due to the pandemic. Benzema has four goals during the winning streak and provided a superb assist for Casemiro to score in a 1-0 win at Espanyol three rounds ago.

Madrid will finish the season with matches against Granada, Villarreal, and Leganşs.

Barcelona has games against Valladolid, Osasuna, and Alavşs before the competition concludes on July 19. Madrid holds the tiebreaker on head-to-head goals if they finish level on points.

Still, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane refused to say the league was Madrid’s to lose. "Anything can happen until this is over,” Zidane said. “It is a good result and how we have three to go.”

New defense

Zidane had to experiment in defense with Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal serving suspensions and Marcelo and Nacho Fernŕndez injured.

While the left side was held down by the experienced Raphael Varane and sometimes starter Ferland Mendy, the right side went to ķder Militŗo in just his ninth league start of the campaign and Lucas Vŕzquez, a forward.

The new-look defense kept a fifth clean sheet in a row for Madrid.

Vŕzquez’s inexperience in defense showed three minutes into the match when Edgar Mşndez dribbled past him and sent a cross to the second post, where Joselu Sanmartţn headed the ball off the bar. Casemiro then had to block a follow-up header of the rebound by Lucas Pşrez.

"We deserved to have scored that early goal,” new Alavşs coach Juan Muũiz said. “You can’t miss those kinds of opportunities and still have much of a chance of pulling out the match. (Against Madrid) you have to take advantage of the scant opportunities you get.”

Mendy, who may play more after Marcelo was sidelined with a muscle injury earlier Friday, cued Madrid’s first goal. He broke into the area and was tripped by Ximo Navarro from a clumsy tackle attempt. With Ramos, Madrid’s regular penalty taker, unavailable, Benzema converted. His 18th league goal of the season is second only to Messi’s 22.

Alavşs tried to rally through Oliver Burke. The Scottish forward drew a save from Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 27th. Minutes later he dribbled past Vŕzquez and Militŗo, only to see Sanmartţn scuff his dangerous pass back to the center of the area.

Madrid took full control just after halftime when Benzema broke Alavşs’ offside trap to reach Rodrygo’s through-ball. Benzema drew Alavşs goalie Roberto Jimşnez to him and laid off for Asensio to tap into the open net. A video review had to overturn the initial decision that Benzema was offside.

Alavşs was playing its first match under Muũiz, who replaced Asier Garitano after the team lost five in a row. The new defeat left the Basque Country club three points above the relegation zone.

The match was played without fans in Madrid’s smaller Alfredo Di Stşfano Stadium while Santiago Bernabşu Stadium is undergoing renovations.

Granada wins

Domingos Duarte scored the winning goal after setting up Granada’s opener in a 3-2 victory at Real Sociedad, keeping alive his side’s chances of qualifying for the Europa League.

Granada was level on points with Valencia, and one point behind Sociedad. The three are in contention with Getafe and Villarreal for a spot in the Europa League.

Granada hosts Madrid on Monday.

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