Real cruise to victory against Valencia

MADRID: Real Madrid’s revival under Santiago Solari appears to be back on track after they moved up to fifth in La Liga with a 2-0 win over Valencia on Saturday.

An own-goal from Valencia’s Daniel Wass gave Madrid an early lead before Lucas Vazquez added a late second to wrap up their sixth win in seven games under their new coach. The 3-0 thrashing by Eibar last weekend, in Solari’s first official game in charge, had placed the depth of the recovery in doubt but this was another assured display to back up an impressive Champions League win over Roma in midweek.

Otherwise, their opponents controlled the contest and while Gareth Bale’s league drought stretched to 10 games, his longest ever, the Welshman played a lead role in an energetic performance before coming off in the second half.

Madrid had made much the better start and in the eighth minute, took the lead.Wass headed into his own net but Dani Carvajal led the celebrations. He kept the ball alive before rummaging past Gabriel Paulista and Jose Gaya. The flicked cross gave Wass too little time to react.

Valencia made hardly any impact on the half, pressed and harried into submission. Neto skewed a clearance under pressure but then made up for his error by denying Bale from close range.

Isco came off the bench in the 80th minute and played a part in the second goal. The excellent Carvajal was again the instigator, setting off on a barnstorming break forward before exchanging with Isco and crossing. In the rush, Benzema did well to pick out Vazquez, who poked home to complete a convincing win.