moved level with rivals Barcelona, ahead of the Blaugrana's match on Sunday, by defeating 2-0 on Saturday night. Los Blancos entered the match off the back of a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Lille in the Champions League midweek, and while they weren't at their free-flowing best, they did manage to claim all three points against a plucky Villarreal outfit. The home side needed just 14 minutes to open the scoring, and they did so in spectacular fashion.
played a short corner kick back to , who unleashed a stunning strike from distance that was aided by a deflection, before slotting past in the Villarreal goal. Although many would have expected Real to cruise on from there, that wasn't the case, with finding it tough to create chances. tried his luck with a shot that went wide of the goal later in the half, while couldn't get a shot off after seemingly being played in behind the Villarreal defence.
As a result Los Blancos headed into the break with the one-goal advantage, though they were handed a scare early in the half when was played in and seemingly taken down in the box. However, the play was ruled offside, much to the relief of the home side and fans. then tried his luck from a freekick and sent his effort wide, while Real Madrid struggled to carve out anything of note as the minutes continued to tick away.
Vinicius puts the match to bed Vinicius put Real nerves to rest in the 73rd minute. The Brazilian received the ball just outside the area before unleashing a fierce driv.