Real bounce back with 4-1 win over Valencia

Real went into the game looking to bounce back from their disappointing Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Leganes in midweek and they did enough to emerge with three points against Marcelino's side.

The hosts were forced to field Francis Coquelin at centre-back due to a lack of defensive personnel but it was right-back Martin Montoya who had a torrid afternoon, conceding two penalties.

Real had the first chance of the game but Gareth Bale could only shoot straight at Neto after a breakdown in communication between the Valencia goalkeeper and Ezequiel Garay.

Rodrigo then fizzed an effort from range just over the bar by way of response before Montoya struck.

Real countered at pace following a Valencia corner, with the former Barcelona man chopping down Ronaldo to hand the visitors a spot-kick.

The Portuguese dusted himself down to send Neto the wrong way from the spot and open the scoring for Real, scoring the 100th penalty of his career in the process.

Geoffrey Kondogbia tested Keylor Navas with an effort from range after some good footwork on the edge of the box, whilst Ronaldo could only fire tamely at Neto from a tight angle after a fine ball from Toni Kroos.

With just eight minutes to go until half-time Real were handed the chance to double their lead as Montoya jumped into the back of Karim Benzema as he looked to attack a cross from the right.

The referee pointed to the spot and Ronaldo stepped up once again to rifle the ball past Neto and into the bottom left corner to double his tally for the day and Real’s lead.

Rodrigo had a great chance to halve the deficit just before the break, but he could only prod wide with the goal at his mercy following Mina’s cross-cum-shot from the right.

That meant that Real went into the break with a two-goal lead, but that wasn’t really a fair reflection of how the game had gone at that point.

- Valencia resurgence -

The hosts came out fired up in the second half as they looked for a route back into the game.

A couple of penalty shouts from Valencia were waved away before Benzema fired into the side-netting after Geoffrey Kondogbia was dispossessed on the edge of his own box.

Just before the hour mark Valencia got their lifeline, as Santi Mina headed home Dani Parejo’s outswinging corner from the right.

At that point it looked like Valencia would get something out of the game, especially when Navas had to be at full stretch to deny Parejo with his foot after a flowing move from ‘Los Che’.

- Real's class shines through - 

However, after an incredible nervy period defensively, Real were able to step up their performance and take the game away from the home side late on.

Ronaldo twice fired over following pull-backs from the right before Marcelo put daylight between the sides.

The Brazilian was given the freedom of the left flank to glide forward and exchange passes with Marco Asensio, before firing low past Neto at the near post from just inside the box.

With just a minute to go of the game, Kroos added some gloss to the scoreline with a fine placed finish from 20 yards after he played a delightful one-two with Mateo Kovacic.

The result leaves Real two points behind Valencia in fourth, with a game in hand.