With the result, leaders Madrid now have 46 points, with Barcelona and Sevilla both four points behind.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo: AFP)
Taking advantage of second-placed Barcelona’s draw with Real Betis earlier on Sunday, Real Madrid stretched their lead at the top of the La Liga to four points with a commanding 3-0 win over Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu.
After being knocked out of the Copa Del Rey by Real Sociedad in midweek, Los Blancos needed to make a statement and they made it in style thanks to goals from Mateo Kovacic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata.
While Betis finished the match with 10 men after Inigo Martinez was sent off in the 74th minute, Madrid were home and dry long before that with a near-perfect team performance.
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It took the home side a while to find the breakthrough, in a match which surprisingly saw Betis shade the possession stats.
The 22-year-old Kovacic, who has started to fit into manager Zinedine Zidane’s plans this season, latched onto Ronaldo’s smart pass before slipping the ball under Betis goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli’s body in the 38th minute. That goal would prove to be crucial going into the break and eased the tensions for the league leaders, who have lost their aura of invincibility after back-to-back defeats by Sevilla and Celta Vigo earlier in January.
Kovacic then returned the favour to Ronaldo, setting him up for a one-on-one, which the Portuguse superstar calmly dunked over Rulli to score his 13th league goal of the season.
Betis centre-back Martinez was then sent off in the 74th minute to put to bed any hopes of a comeback but there was still time for one goal and it came via substitute Alvaro Morata eight minutes from time.
Los Blancos broke at typically breakneck speed and scored a classic counter-attacking goal with Lucas Vazquez’s pin-point cross from the right being guided into the net by a lunging Morata to seal the deal.
With the result, Madrid now have 46 points, with second-placed and third placed Barcelona and Sevilla both four points behind.
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