Madrid To The Top Of The Standings After Defeating Rayo Vallecano

Real Madrid players celebrate a goal (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - Real Madrid won three points after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in the 13th round of the Spanish League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday morning, November 7.

Two Madrid goals were scored in the first half by Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema, while Rayo reduced the gap through Radamel Falcao's goal.

Thanks to this victory, Real Madrid rose to the top of the Spanish League standings with 27 points from 12 matches, two points adrift of Real Sociedad in second place. Meanwhile, Rayo Vallecano is sixth with 20 points.

Madrid's defense was threatened at the start of the match. Alvaro Garcia made a move from the left and then fired, but the ball went wide of goal.

In the 5th minute, Madrid had made a goal through Vinicius kick in the penalty box. However, the referee disallowed the goal because Benzema was in an offside position.

Madrid could only open the scoring in the 14th minute. Toni Kroos met Marco Asensio's header with a volley. The score became 1-0.

Rayo tried to hit back a few minutes later with Nteka's header after meeting Francisco Garcia's cross. However, his header still leads right into the hands of Thibaut Courtois.

In the 38th minute, Madrid doubled their lead through Benzema's finish from close range after using a pass from David Alaba. The position becomes 2-0 for the hosts. Rayo began to try to fight back, but there were no additional goals in the rest of the first half.

The second half started with a tempo that was not much different. Madrid had more control over the game, but Rayo began to find a way to put up a fight.

In the 62nd minute, Madrid created an opportunity through the cooperation of Vinicius and Mendy which was at the end of Benzema. However, the French striker's shot still deviated slightly from Stole Dimitrievski's escort goal.

Rayo could equalize in the 70th minute. Starting from Balliu's cross that Falcao couldn't reach, the ball was then picked up by Garcia down the left before being sent into the middle for Falcao to head home. The score becomes 2-1.

The goal made Los Blancos increase their attack in order to maintain their advantage. However, the host's 2-1 advantage persisted until the referee blew the long whistle signaling the end of the match.

Lineup:

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal (90' Nacho Fernandez), Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Eduardo Camavinga, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Marco Asensio (83' Lucas Vazquez)), Karim Benzema (83' Eden Hazard), Vinicius Junior.

Rayo Vallecano (4-2-3-1): Stole Dimitrievski; Ivan Balliu, Esteban Saveljich (81' Jose Pozo), Alejandro Catena, Francisco Garcia; Santiago Comesana, Oscar Valentin; Fill Palazon (60' Bebe), Oscar Trejo (60' Unai Lopez), Alvaro Garcia; Randy Nteka (69' Radamel Falcao; 81' Sergi Guardiola).