Espanyol 0
Real Madrid took full advantage of Saturday’s draw between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid by closing the gap between themselves and the leading pair to just three points with a comfortable 1-0 victory at Espanyol on Sunday night.
Once again, it was a less than convincing from Carlo Ancelotti’s team, who survived some strong early pressure before gradually establishing the ascendancy and taking the lead through Pepe’s header, with Espanyol never seriously threatening a comeback after the deadlock was broken.
Espanyol made an excellent start and should have taken the lead inside five minutes when a driven cross from Juan Fuentes found Cristian Stuani, who sent a header wide from a good position.
Ancelotti’s men threatened for the first time when Karim Benzema broke down the left and delivered a dangerous low cross but home keeper Kiko Casilla came well out to deny Cristiano Ronaldo’s low effort.
Angel Di Maria’s 20-yard shot nearly wrong-footed Casilla, but Espanyol immediately broke and lively striker Cordoba flashed a narrow-angled shot into the sidenetting after a strong run down the right.
Madrid were gradually getting better, and after half-an-hour Ronaldo gave a glimpse of his awesome shooting power by receiving a pass from Di Maria and thrashing goalwards a right-footed 25-yarder which Casilla parried over the bar with great difficulty.
Casilla soon made another awkward save, this time with his feet, as Ronaldo tried his luck with a long-range free-kick, and Espanyol were now hanging on for the halftime whistle.
The second half began with Madrid continuing to dominate as Espanyol concentrated on defensive duties, but they were opened up in the most routine fashion when Modric delivered a right wing free-kick and Pepe was left entirely unmarked to send a powerful downward header into the lefthand corner.
It was tough to see a route back into the game for Espanyol as the visitors pushed hard for a second goal and Ronaldo came close with a pair of angled efforts before a seemingly goalbound header from Sergio Ramos deflected to safety off Victor Sanchez.
Ronaldo continued to search for his customary goal but was unusually wasteful as two more chances came and went. It mattered little.