Real Madrid has returned to the top of La Liga after recording a 2-1 win over 10-man Real Betis at the Bernabeu on Sunday night.
Antonio Sanabria sent Betis into a 25th-minute lead in the Spanish capital, but Cristiano Ronaldo levelled the scores five minutes before the break, before Sergio Ramos headed Real Madrid’s winner late on.
There was big controversy in the 22nd minute when Betis midfielder Darko Brasanac broke through into a one-on-one situation with Navas before going down under a late challenge from the Costa Rican international, but the referee was not interested, despite replays indicating that the goalkeeper should have received his marching orders for the last-man challenge.
Navas was then involved in the opening goal of the night three minutes later as the Real Madrid stopper somehow spilled a low strike from Sanabria over the goal-line after initially seeming to deal with the number nine’s tame effort.
The response from Real Madrid was strong, however, and the home side levelled the scores five minutes before the interval when Ronaldo headed a wonderful Marcelo cross past Adan after being afforded too much space inside the Betis box.
Betis had a half-chance to regain the lead early in the second period when Aissa Mandi met a high ball inside the Real Madrid box, but the centre-back’s header was kept out by a smart stop from Navas, who faced whistles from sections of the Bernabeu support after his error in the first half.
It took Real Madrid until the hour to register their first shot on target in the second period, but Luka Modric’s long-range strike proved comfortable for Adan, who would have expected to have been busier at the start of the second 45 minutes.
Ronaldo had the ball in the back of the Betis net for a second time in the 73rd minute, but the offside flag was raised against the Portuguese, despite replays showing that the forward was level with Betis’ final line of defence.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute when Cristiano Piccini was handed a second yellow card for pulling Lucas outside the Betis box, although the wing-back did prevent what might have been a tap-in for Ronaldo at the far post.
Real Madrid continued to press, however, and scored their second in the 81st minute when Ramos headed a Toni Kroos corner past Adan to make it three goals in one week for the centre-back.
Betis managed to put the home side under some pressure in the latter stages and came close to a leveller through a Sanabria header in stoppage time, but Real Madrid held on to secure a vital victory on a weekend where Barcelona and Sevilla both dropped points.
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