La Liga wrap: Real power to important win

Real Madrid got their Liga campaign back on track with a 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

They may have been delayed nearly 24 hours after floodlight cables were sabotaged on Sunday night, but the game was worth the wait for Madrid, with Karim Benzema’s 13th-minute strike and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty late on sealing the win.

A sweeping move saw Angel Di Maria cross for Benzema and the Frenchman clinically dispatched his effort into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Jose Mourinho’s side came into the game on the back of a three-match losing streak away from home in all competitions, having already lost as many games as they did in the whole of last season.

And they had to survive a scare on the half-hour mark, when Iker Casillas did well to stop Andrija Delibasic’s header, before Mikel Labaka’s follow-up was cleared off the line by the chest of Xabi Alonso.

Rayo had lost their last eight matches against with Madrid, their last victory arriving 15 years ago, and they should have been level five minutes after the break, when Alvaro Arbeloa’s back-pass was sent straight to Delibasic inside the area, but he failed to control with only Casillas to beat.

Benzema nearly doubled Madrid’s lead on the hour, only to have his goal ruled out when he was stopped for an incorrect offside decision.

Ronaldo, making his 47th consecutive La Liga appearance, doubled his side’s lead from the spot with 20 minutes remaining, after his attempted cross hit the arm of a sprawling Jordi Amat.

In the late game, Sevilla moved to fourth place on the table with a late 2-0 win at Deportivo La Coruna.

Negredo opened the scoring in the 75th minute after a fine buildup involving Cicinho before Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic made the match safe six minutes from time.