La Liga: Real Madrid move to top after victory over Espanyol

The win sees Real Madrid sit top of the La Liga table with 71 points, two points ahead of rivals Barcelona.

Barcelona [Spain]: Real Madrid secured a 1-0 win over Espanyol in La Liga to move two points clear at the top of the league here on Monday.

Both the clubs competed aggressively and the match started at a furious pace with the first chance falling to the home side.

The deadlock was broken in the 45+1st minute when Karim Benzema's brilliant back-heeled assist to Casemiro led to a stunning goal.

Real Madrid vs Espanyol

Real Madrid remained incredibly disciplined and managed their lead well to the end, barely giving their opponents any chance at all.

However, Chinese forward Wu Lei had chance to equalize for Espanyol four minutes after the restart, but his effort was saved by Thibaut Courtois, and neither side was able to produce a goal in the remaining minutes.

The Zindine Zidane-led side finished the game with a clean sheet for the second match in a row.

The win sees Real Madrid sit top of the table with 71 points, two points ahead of rivals Barcelona, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Los Blancos will now take on Getafe on July 3.

Meanwhile, relegation seems inevitable for Espanyol after their third straight loss in La Liga.

With six rounds of matches to go, Espanyol are rooted to the bottom of the table and are now ten points from safety.