Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe,
Marcelo; Xabi Alonso (Coentrão 79'), Khedira; Di María (Özil
69'), Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo; Benzema (Higuaín 74'). 4-2-3-1.
Villarreal: Diego López; Zapata, Gonzalo,
Musacchio, Català; Borja Valero, Bruno, De Guzmán (Camuñas
51'), Cani; Marco Rubén (Marcos Senna 75'), Rossi (Mario Gaspar 60').
4-2-3-1.
Goals:
1-0. 05. Benzema. Controlled Di María pass on
chest and lifted shot over Diego.
2-0. 10. Kaká. Collected Di
María square pass and beat keeper from edge of area.
3-0. 30. Di
María. Picked up Benzema pass and steered shot wide of keeper.
Yellow cards: Xabi Alonso 20', Català 46`, Kaká 52', Marco Rubén 53'.
Real Madrid beat a struggling Villarreal 3-0 on Wednesday evening to climb back above Barcelona to second spot. All the goals came in the first half hour, Benzema opening the scoring in the fifth minute after controlling a long ball from Di María on his chest before turning a shot past Diego López. Kaká made it two with a left footed shot after picking up another assist from Di María, and after Benzema headed straight at the keeper, Di María ran on to a Benzema pass following a quick breakaway to score the third. Before the break Ronaldo felt he should have had a penalty when his free kick hit a defenders arm in the defensive wall, and although the locals slowed the game down after the restart, Arbeloa could have added to the lead later on. With results elsewhere going against them Villarreal drop in to the relegation zone, and coach Juan Carlos Garrido is in big trouble. His woes were compounded when Rossi went off with a serious knee injury, and with Nilmar out as well, his hopes of turning things round are looking slim.