Gonzalo Higuain’s early goal earned stuttering champions Real Madrid a morale-boosting victory tonight against 10-man Valencia.
Madrid had lost four of their previous five league matches and slumped 12 points adrift of leaders Barcelona in the process, but Higuain’s fine left-footed strike brought some early Christmas cheer to the Bernabeu.
Juande Ramos’ side also hit the woodwork twice but second-placed Valencia can consider themselves unfortunate not to have earned a draw after more than matching Madrid up until the point Carlos Marchena was sent off midway through the second half.
The first period was a mixed bag, with Madrid starting off superbly and taking a deserved lead through Higuain but then allowing Valencia to get back into the game.
Madrid were handed the perfect start when ever-improving Higuain scored after just three minutes.
Arjen Robben did brilliantly to slalom his way past two defenders before pulling the ball back to Higuain, who sliced a rising left-footed shot past Renan Brito and into the far top corner for his 11th league goal of the season.
Real Madrid thinks gonna get Cristiano Ronaldo no!C.RONALDO THINKS REAL MADRID IS STUPID!
There is no doubt that Barca are the best laliga team at the moment, but it is obvious that the league is far from over. When Real Madrid,s injuries are sorted, coupled with the signings of Lassana Diarra and Huntelaar, they,ll b a force to reckon with, thereby closing the 12pts gap to 4 or 2. This feat is attainable so far football is concern.