Benzema bags a brace as Real Madrid lift mood by returning to winning ways
Karim Benzema bagged a second-half brace as Real Madridgot back to winning ways after a dreadful past couple of weeks by coming from behind to beat Real Valladolid 4-1.
A pair of defeats at home to Barcelona looks to have ended Madrid's quest for domestic glory this season while the pressure on Santiago Solari intensified after the capital club were knocked out of the Champions League by Ajax.
They made a sluggish start at the Estadio Municipal Jose Zorrilla against a side battling to retain their LaLiga status but two goals from Benzema and one each for Raphael Varane and Luka Modric underpinned a 4-1 victory.
Valladolid missed a penalty and had two goals ruled out for offside early on before taking the lead through Anuar Tuhami just before the half hour but they were unable to capitalise against a Madrid side that finished with 10 men following the late dismissal of Casemiro.
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The win ensured Madrid lost no further ground this weekend on Barcelona, who are 12 points ahead of Solari's men.
Wissam Ben Yedder bagged a 13-minute hat-trick in the second half as Sevilla cruised to a 5-2 triumph over Real Sociedad.
Pablo Sarabia's 25th-minute opener was quickly cancelled out by Mikel Oyarzabal but Ben Yedder took centre stage after the interval to ensure there was no way back for Sociedad.
The France striker struck three minutes after the restart and bagged twice more, completing his treble just after the hour, before Oyarzabal put into his own net.
Oyarzabal completed the scoring when he converted a penalty in the 77th minute, which proved to be scant consolation for Sociedad.
Ferran Torres scored in the last minute as 10-man Valencia edged to a 3-2 win at Girona.
Goals for the visitors from Goncalo Guedes and Dani Parejo were cancelled out by Jonas Ramalho and Cristhian Stuani, who scored with seven minutes remaining from the spot.
By this point Valencia were a man down following the dismissal of Facundo Roncaglia but they still managed to fashion a late winner courtesy of Torres.
Roberto Suarez Pier and Samuel Chukwueze both scored in added time as Villarreal snatched a 2-0 win at Levante while Jese's goal 10 minutes from time helped Real Betis pip Celta Vigo 1-0.