Real Madrid have moved above Atletico Madrid into second position in the La Liga table courtesy of a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu on Saturday afternoon.
The victory means that Los Blancos, who finished with 10 men following a late red for Raphael Varane, are also now just one point behind the leaders Barcelona, but the Catalan outfit have two games in hand - one of which is against Celta Vigo tomorrow night. Bilbao, meanwhile, have missed the chance to move above Sevilla and therefore remain sixth.
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Real Madrid's XI showed two changes to the team that beat Granada last time out, with Danilo and Mateo Kovacic replacing Marcelo and Isco at left-back and central midfield respectively.
As for Bilbao, Ernesto Valverde was without a number of key players. Inaki Williams and Mikel San Jose both missed out through suspension, while Raul Garcia and Markel Susaeta were still out injured.
It took just three minutes for the home side to open the scoring, with Karim Benzema feeding a pass in to Cristiano Ronaldo, who beat his full-back before firing an effort into the top corner.
Bilbao came close to an equaliser in the eighth minute when Aritz Aduriz met a whipped cross from Oscar de Marcos, but the experienced striker's header was wide of the post, before Kovacic had a goal-bound strike blocked down the other end.
The visitors were deservedly level in the 10th minute, however, and it came from a poor defensive mistake. Varane attempted to pass the ball back to Keylor Navas under little pressure, but the centre-back wrong-footed the Costa Rican and Javier Eraso nipped in to roll the ball home from close range.
Aduriz almost sent Bilbao ahead in the 19th minute when he once again rose highest inside the Real Madrid box, but the 34-year-old's powerful header was kept out by the diving Navas.
An end-to-end opening 25 minutes also brought a super chance for Danilo, but the right-back, who was back in the Real Madrid XI due to Marcelo's injury, could not beat Gorka Iraizoz from close range.
Aduriz then hit the crossbar for Bilbao in the 30th minute after poking a low Mikel Balenziaga cross towards the top corner. Navas got nowhere near it, but the woodwork saved what was a shaky Real Madrid backline.
Aduriz was at the heart of another Bilbao attack 10 minutes before the break when he set up De Marcos inside the box, but the Spaniard was off-balance when he made contact and the ball flew wide of the post.
It was Real Madrid that scored the game's all-important second goal, however, when James Rodriguez worked a yard of space outside the box before curling an unstoppable effort past Iraizoz.
There was time for another goal in the first half though and it came for Toni Kroos, who collected a clever pass from Ronaldo before turning and hammering one past the Bilbao stopper to make it 3-1 Los Blancos at the end of the first period.
Bilbao found it hard to match their intensity from the first period in the early stages of the second and it was Real Madrid that looked the most likely to score the game's fifth goal as the 60-minute mark approached in the capital.
Sabin Merino came close for Bilbao in the 65th minute when he met a cross from Balenziaga, but the youngster's header was never really troubling Navas between the sticks, before Kovacic missed the crossbar down the other end.
Kroos had his pocket picked 20 minutes from time and Aduriz had another chance for the visitors, but the Spaniard, who has scored 25 goals this season, could not beat Navas from close range.
Ronaldo came close to scoring a second in the 81st minute when he drove down the left before cutting inside, but his low effort was always comfortable for the Bilbao stopper.
Bilbao were given hope when Varane was sent off in the 83rd minute following an aerial challenge with Aduriz, but Ronaldo scored his second in the 87th minute to secure all the points for the home team.
That was not the end of the goals, however, as Gorka Elustondo headed a De Marcos cross into the bottom corner in the final minute to give the away supporters something else to cheer.
Matt Law
