Tim Hanlon

Real Madrid players celebrating after scoring against Deportivo La Coruna at Riazor Stadium on Saturday. Real won 3-1. (AFP Photo)

Benzema Brace Helps Real Keep Pace With Leader Barca

Barcelona. A delightful back-heel from Jose Maria Gutierrez set up Karim Benzema for the first of a brace as Real Madrid, playing without suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-1 on Saturday.

The win kept Real five points behind Barcelona, which had earlier defeated Sporting Gijon 1-0 to stay top of La Liga in a game that also saw the champion reach the 50-goal mark for the league season.

Esteban Granero headed Real ahead after 13 minutes with the game played out in the home side’s half at the Riazor, where the Madrid giants had not won for almost 20 years since the 1991-92 season.

With Felipe Luis injured, Manuel Pablo moved to the left-hand side and the defense never looked comfortable, especially against the pace of Benzema.

Raul Gonzalez had the chance to add to the lead with a close-range volley before a moment of real quality from Guti.

Through on goal, he back-heeled the ball into the path of Benzema to slot home.

Deportivo had chances in the second half and in a late rally Ivan Riki scored a penalty. But the last word was from Benzema, who wrapped up the scoring in injury time.

“We went out to get the result from the very start even though this was not a win-at-all-costs game,” Real coach Manuel Pellegrini said. “We knew how to deal with an important match against a good side.”

“I am very happy with the win because it was in a stadium which traditionally has been a difficult place to come for Real, and also because we played well, although it did get a bit tight at the end.”

Barcelona stayed top after Pedro Rodriguez scored in a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon.

Mate Bilic went close with a header for the home side before Pedro put the Barcelona ahead with a clinical finish from a through ball by Andres Iniesta on the 30-minute mark.

“This is a good result for us because we played in a stadium where very few teams have won,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said.

“My only regret is that is that we did not make the right decisions in the final moments of the game that would have made the result a lot more comfortable.”

Sporting coach Manolo Preciado felt the free-kick that led to Barca’s goal was not correctly taken.

“That goal was first of all an error from the referee and then from us, but this is part of football — sometimes it goes for you and others not,” he said.

A Luis Garcia strike saw Espanyol overcome Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in a scrappy match to give it breathing space at the bottom of La Liga earlier on Saturday. The home side dominated from the start and injury-hit Athletic was never able to get into stride.

Athletic keeper Gorka Iraizoz made a couple of important interventions in the first half but he was powerless to block Garcia’s close-range winner on 58 minutes after good work from Javi Marquez down the left wing.

The result moved Espanyol six points clear of the relegation zone. Athletic, which is chasing a place in Europe, has now lost back-to-back games.

Despite a draw away to lowly Tenerife, Valencia is well placed to qualify for the Champions League, but on Sunday it faces a crucial game against fellow aspirant Sevilla, which has dropped off the pace since Christmas after losing three of its last four matches.

  La Liga

Agence France-Presse

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