MADRID - Real Madrid kept Barcelona in their sights with a 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano yesterday but they remain eight points behind the Catalan side, who are yet to drop a point this season.
Karim Benzema struck after 13 minutes and Cristiano Ronaldo added a second mid-way through the second-half as Jose Mourinho's side came out on top in the match postponed from Sunday because of floodlight sabotage. In injury time Jose Casado was dismissed for the home side after receiving his second yellow card.
The green light was finally given to play the game at Rayo's Estadio de Vallecas ground in what was a tough battle for Madrid against city rivals Rayo.
The pressure was on after Barcelona beat Granada 2-0 on Saturday, their fifth win in succession, while Madrid had only one.
"We played as a team but we could still have been better. We were committed, which is important and it allowed us to win without problems," said Mourinho afterwards.
"It has been a strange situation with the postponement and it has been complicated to prepare for this but it was the same for both teams. We overcame it and although it wasn't a great win, we did enough. We had a lot of chances to score while they had few."