Real Madrid secured a 2-0 win at Real Valladolid as Karim Benzema scored two late goals including a penalty to move them a point clear of Barcelona at the top of LaLiga on Friday.
Ballon d'Or winner Benzema returned to the starting lineup after missing the World Cup for France, having suffered a thigh injury the day before the start of the tournament.
Real were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute after a handball against Javi Sanchez, with Benzema converting the penalty.
Benzema doubled Madrid's lead in stoppage time after an assist from substitute Eduardo Camavinga.
If Real Madrid are to beat Barcelona to the LaLiga title they'll need Karim Benzema on top form, something we haven't seen so far this season. His performance at Valladolid on
was a slow-burning start to putting that right. This wasn't the Ballon d'Or winner at his highest level -- far from it -- but when the final whistle went, it was his two goals that gave Madrid all,
After being sent home by France before the World Cup began, the hope was that Benzema's extra time on the training ground at Valdebebas -- combined with the burning desire to remind everyone why he
firing on all cylinders after a stop-start, injury hit disappointment of a season. That might have been wishful thinking, and in the first half Benzema looked like a player trying to find himself.
skied over the bar after Vinicius' low effort was saved by Jordi Masip, was the kind of opportunity that he really should be burying.
Patience with Benzema should be endless though -- his sky-high performance levels over the last few years have earned him that right -- and his coolly dispatched second-half penalty