La Liga leaders Real Madrid regained their seven-point cushion at the top yesterday as they benefited from two own goals in a comfortable 4-0 home win over struggling Celta Vigo.
Vinicius Junior turned in a rebound at the second attempt midway through the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu before a Celta side coached by former Madrid boss Rafa Benitez unravelled late on.
Antonio Rudiger powered a header against the bar which bounced back off Celta goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and over the line for an own goal, effectively sealing the points for the hosts with 11 minutes left.
Guaita was then involved in a mix-up with Carlos Dominguez as the defender bundled a teasing Vinicius cross into his own net.
Turkish starlet Arda Guler came off the bench to grab his first Madrid goal in stoppage time as Madrid brushed off the absence of the suspended Jude Bellingham. Bellingham, the league’s top scorer this season with 16 goals, watched from the stands after an appeal against the England international’s two-match ban for his red card against Valencia last weekend was dismissed.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side played poorly in a 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, but it was enough to see them through to the Champions League quarter-finals 2-1 on aggregate.
Despite dropping points in three of their past five league games, Madrid had gained ground on second-placed Girona recently as the surprise challengers’ unlikely title bid began to taper off.
Madrid are now 22 games unbeaten in La Liga and eight points above reigning champions Barcelona, who are just behind Girona in third place.
Celta remain in 17th and just two points above the relegation zone.
Earlier on Saturday, Girona returned to winning ways by beating Osasuna 2-0 as Atletico Madrid ceded further ground on the top three with a shock defeat at Cadiz.
A goal inside the opening 15 minutes from Cristian Portu and a late Savinho strike allowed Girona to leapfrog Barcelona back into second spot.
Girona dominated the early exchanges against their 10th-placed opponents and were rewarded with just 13 minutes on the clock.
A clever slide-rule pass by Viktor Tsygankov set Portu free in the box and the Spaniard’s unerring first-time finish set Girona on their way.
Tsygankov nearly got a second assist three minutes after the break but his compatriot Artem Dovbyk could not supply the finish inside the box.
Daley Blind came close to doubling Girona’s lead just shy of the hour mark but his 12-yeard strike was well blocked by the Osasuna defence.
Savinho then struck in the 85th minute but the goal was disallowed for a foul committed by an teammate.
However, the disappointment was short-lived for the Brazilian when he again netted two minutes later and this time it stood.
Miguel Gutierrez fed Aleix Garcia, whose backheel fell perfectly to the oncoming Savinho and he stabbed home a left-footed finish to put the game beyond Osasuna.
Atletico Madrid were shocked by lowly Cadiz as Diego Simeone’s men sank to a 2-0 defeat on the south coast. A brace either side of half-time from loanee Juanmi secured an invaluable three points for the 18th-placed Andalusian side and condemned Atletico to a seventh defeat this term.