Real Madrid cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of LaLiga to six points with a 2-1 win over Alaves.
With Madrid playing prior to Barcelona’s clash with Celta Vigo on Wednesday, Los Blancos had the chance to apply some pressure on the defending champions.
And they made no mistake in snatching the opportunity against their relegation-threatened visitors.
A deflected first-half strike from Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead, before Vinicius Junior gave them command by arrowing in a long-range strike.
Alaves received their reward for a spell of late pressure when Toni Martinez halved the deficit in stoppage time, but they remain just a point above the relegation zone in a crowded fight against the drop.
Real Madrid cut gap in LaLiga title race
Alaves started well, but Madrid were ahead on the half-hour mark thanks to the good fortune that took Mbappe’s strike beyond Antonio Sivera following good work from Arda Guler.
Eder Militao hit the crossbar from a low Jude Bellingham cross as Madrid sought to quickly put the game to bed, but Militao was then forced off with an injury immediately after.
Martinez was unfortunate not to equalise as he struck the post before being denied by Andriy Lunin shortly before half-time.
But Madrid reassumed the ascendancy early in the second half, Sivera keeping out Aurelien Tchouameni’s close-range header following a Guler corner, with Bellingham heading narrowly over on the follow-up.
There was nothing Sivera could do, though, to keep out an unstoppable low effort from Vinicius, whose 12th league goal of the season swerved beyond the helpless Alaves goalkeeper.
Brahim Diaz then saw a curling effort headed off the line, before Alaves delivered a reminder of the threat they offered when Victor Parada struck the far post after a corner was flicked into his path.
Alaves’ consolation came in the final allocated minute of injury time, Martinez smartly flicking Ander Guevara’s low shot past an exasperated Lunin.
There was no time for the visitors to seriously attempt to snatch a point, though the lack of cheers at full-time spoke to the home crowd’s lack of satisfaction with an unconvincing finish to the contest.
