Real Madrid 3-0 Alaves: Real extend La Liga lead

Real Madrid saw off Alaves to extend their lead at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

Karim Benzema opened the scoring after 31 minutes with a powerful left-footed strike into the top left-hand corner - a stylish first-ever goal against Alaves for the France international.

Isco added a second in the 84th minute, making a perfectly timed run down the right before beating Fernando Pacheco at his near post with a brilliant strike.

And, in what seemed a brutal reflection of the match for an impressive Alaves side, Nacho put the game to bed just four minutes later with his first league goal of the season when he capitalised on a rebound from close range.

Zinedine Zidane opted to rest Sergio Ramos for the fixture ahead of a busy month of action for his team, which sees them face league showdowns with title rivals Atletico Madrid and Barcelona as well as a Champions League quarter-final double-header with Bayern Munich.

And the manager took no risks when defender Raphael Varane appeared to pick up a knock early in the game, replacing him as a precaution with Dani Carvajal on 11 minutes.

Zidane's side were not at their best in the first half, creating very little going forward and allowing Alaves to carve out a number of chances themselves.

It took more than half-an-hour for the home side to register a shot on target but, in true Real Madrid style, they made the most of the chance to take the lead when Carvajal laid the ball back from the edge of the box for Benzema to fire home his ninth league goal of the season.

Alaves had the chance to equalise seven minutes later when Ibai Gomez sent an inviting ball into the box, but Acosta Deyverson could only head the ball wide of Iker Casillas' left post and it was a chance wasted for Mauricio Pellegrino's men.

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Cristiano Ronaldo, who was kept very quiet for much of the afternoon, found the net nine minutes into the second half but the goal was disallowed as the Portuguese was adjudged to be offside when he made the run on goal.

It was a match of missed opportunities for the visitors, who lacked quality in the final third when they failed to convert two chances in the course of two minutes.

Deyverson threw away a golden opportunity once more when he was unable to get power on a header after meeting Gaizka Toquero's neat ball into the box.

Edgar Mendez missed the second of those chances to draw level when he found himself unmarked in acres of space at the far post.

The home side appeared to wrap up all three points when Isco popped up to slot home his side's second before Nacho beat the 'keeper from close-range to condemn Alaves to their third defeat in seven games.

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