Real Madrid, La Liga leaders, reclaimed their seven-point advantage on Sunday thanks to two own goals in a comfortable 4-0 victory against struggling Celta Vigo at home.
Vinicius Junior converted a rebound from Antonio Rudiger’s header at the Santiago Bernabeu midway through the first half before Celta, managed by former Madrid manager Rafa Benitez, crumbled late. Rudiger sent another header against the bar, which rebounded off Celta goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and across the line for an own goal, almost securing the points for the hosts with 11 minutes remaining.
Guaita then got into a mix-up with Carlos Dominguez, who bundled a tempting Vinicius cross into his own goal. Arda Guler, a Turkish new talent whose debut season in Spain has been ruined by injury, came off the bench to score his first Madrid goal in stoppage time as Carlo Ancelotti’s team survived the absence of the suspended Jude Bellingham.
Despite missing points in three of their last five league matches, Madrid recently took back the gap on second-placed Girona as the surprise challengers’ unlikely title campaign began to collapse.
With 8 points advantage over the defending champions Barcelona, who are now behind Girona in third place in La Liga, Madrid has now gone 22 games unbeaten.
