Real widen gap in La Liga with three-star win

Kovacic, Ronaldo and Morata scored to help Real beat Sociedad 3-0, thereby increasing the gap with Barca and Sevilla to four points.

Goals: Kovacic 38', Ronaldo 51', Morata 82'

The win over Sociedad gave Real 46 points from 19 La Liga matches in 2016-2017. This is four points more than the two teams behind, Barca and Sevilla, who have 20 matches. If they also win against Valencia in the postponed match, Real can increase the gap to seven points.

While the leaders won, Barca and Sevilla both had disappointing rounds. The defending champions had to wait until the 90th minute to earn a 1-1 draw with Betis, while Sevilla lost 3-1 to Espanyol. These stumbles could prove pivotal in the title race.

Ronaldo's Real Madrid made progress while Barca and Sevilla both failed to win. Photo: Reuters

Real and Sociedad, both having been eliminated from the Copa del Rey last week, were determined to play in their La Liga clash. If they had capitalised on their early attacks, Sociedad could have taken the lead and caused trouble for the leaders. Among them, teenager Mikel Oyarzabal stood out with a breakaway past Sergio Ramos and forced Casemiro to clear the ball. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas also had to make a lot of effort to clear Real's goal.

After a poor start, Real regained their leading form. In this performance, the Kovacic - Ronaldo duo played most effectively. In the 38th minute, the Croatian midfielder received the ball from Ronaldo and then shot diagonally to open the score. In the 51st minute, Kovacic "repaid the favor" with a high-class pass, thereby creating conditions for CR7 to lift the ball to double the gap.

Kovacic (in white) had an excellent match in the central midfielder role replacing Modric.

After conceding two goals, Sociedad fell into a difficult situation when having to play with one less player. Center back Inigo Martinez received a second yellow card in the 74th minute.

Taking advantage, Real continued to press the field and scored another goal. In the 82nd minute, Morata flew to head the ball into the near corner to seal a 3-0 victory.

After the win over Sociedad, Real will have a week off before visiting Celta Vigo in round 21 of La Liga. Celta Vigo is also the opponent that eliminated Zidane's team from the King's Cup.

Morata flew to head the ball in to seal the victory for Real.

According to VNE