Elche: Manu Herrera; Damián
Suárez, Botía, Lombán, Edu Albácar; Rubén
Pérez, Carlos Sánchez, Javi Márquez (Boakye 61'); Carles
Gil, Coro (Aarón Ñíguez 81'), Manu del Moral (Fidel 59').
4-3-3.
Madrid: Diego López; Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos,
Pepe, Coentrao; Khedira, Modric (Dani Carvajal 80'); Di María (Morata
88'), Isco (Illarramendi 69'), Cristiano Ronaldo; Benzema. 4-2-3-1.
Goals:
0-1. 51. Ronaldo. Struck long free kick through gap
in defensive wall past keeper.
1-1. 92. Boakye. Steered header wide of
Diego López from Fidel's floated cross.
1-2. 96. Ronaldo (penalty).
After Carlos Sánchez pulled over Pepe inside the area.
Yellow cards: Manu del Moral 06', Sergio Ramos 08', Botía 33', Damián Suárez 57', Coro 59', Ronaldo 75', Fidel 86', Carlos Sánchez 94'.
Real Madrid remain two points behind joint leaders Barcelona and Atlético Madrid after a controversial last minute 1-2 victory at Elche. The locals have yet to win since getting promoted in the summer, but they didn't allow themselves to be overawed by their opponents, Diego López having to be on his toes to keep out Lombán and Carles Gil early on, and Javi Márquez firing a couple of shots wide. Ronaldo went close himself twice though and Di María finally tested Manu Herrera shortly before the break, and six minutes after the restart Ronaldo found a gap in the defensive wall to open the scoring with a well struck free kick. Neither side produced too many chances after that though until the second minute of injury time, when Boakye got on the end of Fidel's cross to head home the equalizer. But with the home fans celebrating the point, referee Muñiz Fernández surprised everyone awarding the visitors a penalty as Carlos Sánchez and Pepe tussled in the area following a corner. The final whistle should have gone before that, but once the protests died down Ronaldo stepped up to calmly drill home the winner. The win keeps Ancelotti's side in touch with their immediate rivals, and they have a chance to go second at least when they host Atlético in their city derby on Saturday.