NEW DELHI: Real Madrid fought back hard after conceding an early goal to claim a 3-1 victory over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Saturday.
The victory will give the hosts much needed morale booster ahead of a potentially season-defining week in which they face Liverpool and Barcelona.
Espanyol, who remained 13th, opened the scoring in the eighth minute, as Joselu lashed the ball into the top corner past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following Ruben Sanchez's cross from the right flank.
Vinicius Jr, Eder Militao and Marco Asensio scored for the second-placed Real and the Spanish club maintained their slim title chances by moving up to 56 points - six behind leaders Barcelona, who travel to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Real stepped up the pressure as they sought a leveller, with Eduardo Camavinga getting a shot on target, before Vinicius showed his individual skill in the 22nd minute to cut into the box, beat two defenders and rifle in.
With Espanyol pinned back in their own half, the home side took the lead six minutes from half-time as Militao scored with a bullet header after Aurelien Tchouameni put in a cross with the outside of his foot.
Real continued to press after the break and Rodrygo almost scored their third with a free-kick effort that cannoned off the cross-bar in the 75th minute.
Asensio smashed in a third in added time to wrap up the win for Real, who had dropped points in draws with rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Betis in their last two league games.
(With inputs from Reuters)
