Madrid ease to victory at Getafe to put pressure on Barca

Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez (R) and Getafe’s Moises Gomez – Reuters

REUTERS: Real Madrid moved to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona after five of their leading attacking lights got on the scoresheet in a 5-1 thrashing at struggling Getafe on Saturday.

Karim Benzema, Isco, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo all scored as Madrid moved on to 75 points and provisionally ahead of city rivals Atletico, who play Granada on Sunday, when Barcelona host Valencia.

Sporting Gijon remain in the relegation zone, despite ending Las Palmas’s three-game winning streak by coming from behind to draw 1-1, while Real Sociedad failed to build on last week’s win over Barca and lost a controversial Basque derby with Eibar 2-1.

Benzema opened the scoring for Real after 29 minutes by tapping home from close range and then laid on the pass for Isco to double the lead in the 40th.

Bale got the third five minutes after the restart, taking his league tally to 16 goals this season, his best since moving to Madrid in 2013.

Pablo Sarabia pulled one back for Getafe in the 84th when he curled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area, but Rodriguez added another for Madrid, before Ronaldo tapped in with the final kick of the game.

Real Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane said in February that the title race was over, but after watching his side outclass Getafe he was far more optimistic about their chances.

“I think we have a better chance of winning the league because we keep on getting closer,” Zidane told reporters.