Real Madrid moved four points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win at Elche on Sunday.
After passing up several chances in the first-half, Madrid finally made the breakthrough when Karim Benzema tapped home from close range 11 minutes into the second period.
Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the three points when he fired home a header from Isco’s pin-point cross 21 minutes from time.
Barca’s shock 1-0 defeat to Malaga on Saturday leaves the Catalan side with ground to make up ahead of their March 22 meeting with Madrid at Camp Nou.
“I think the defeat surprised everyone because Barcelona were in great form,” said Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. “It is clear we have the advantage at the moment, but as I have said many times this league will be decided in the final game.”
Madrid started brightly at the Martinez Valero and should have been well in front by half time. Gareth Bale had an early strike ruled out for offside before Ronaldo smashed an effort from 20 yards off the post.
The World Player of the Year wasted a fine chance when he miscued from Bale’s low cross. Another effort from Ronaldo, this time with his head from Toni Kroos’s free-kick, flew just wide as the pressure built.
The visitors were unfortunate not to be ahead in stunning fashion when Benzema’s overhead kick was nullified for the tightest of offside calls.
Madrid captain Iker Casillas was making his 500th La Liga appearance but had barely touched the ball until he had to make a smart low save to his right to deny Aaron Niguez two minutes after the break.
Niguez was lucky to stay on the pitch moments later when he saw a yellow card, rather than red, for a crude challenge on Bale that, fortunately, the Welshman was able to shake off.
Ancelotti’s men finally got the break that had deserted them early in the game on 56 minutes when David Lomban’s clearance from Ronaldo’s low cross bounced off Elche keeper Przemyslaw Tyton and into the path of Benzema to slot into an empty net.
Ronaldo ended his three-match goalless streak in La Liga with the header from Isco’s fine cross to put the game to bed.
Earlier, David Moyes’s Real Sociedad struck twice in the final 10 minutes to come from behind and seal a 4-3 win over Sevilla at Anoeta.
Real’s Imanol Agirretxe slotted home the opener after 16 minutes, but Timothee Kolodziejczak levelled for the Europa League holders before the break.
Sociedad were gifted a soft penalty at the start of the second period, which Xabi Prieto converted, but Sevilla responded once more when their top scorer, Carlos Bacca, flicked home Ever Banega’s free-kick.
Sevilla looked set to claim three points in their battle for a return to Uefa Champions League football next season when Kevin Gameiro scored from the spot after a handball by Inigo Martinez inside the area.
However, Sociedad equalised when Alejandro Arribas turned the ball into his own net and Moyes’s side won when Prieto flicked home a corner at the near post as the game entered stoppage time.
Defeat means Sevilla trail Valencia by five points in the fight for fourth place, while Sociedad jump three places to 10th and are now eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Villarreal are just a point behind Sevilla, in sixth, after substitute Luciano Vietto scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Eibar.
Athletic Bilbao were also 1-0 victors over Rayo Vallecano thanks to Aritz Aduriz’s strike four minutes from time.
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
Rajasthan Royals 153-5 (17.5 ov)
Delhi Daredevils 60-4 (6 ov)
Rajasthan won by 10 runs (D/L method)
England Test squad
Ben Stokes (captain), Joe Root, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
The specs
BMW M8 Competition Coupe
Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
Power 625hp at 6,000rpm
Torque 750Nm from 1,800-5,800rpm
Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto
Acceleration 0-100kph in 3.2 sec
Top speed 305kph
Fuel economy, combined 10.6L / 100km
Price from Dh700,000 (estimate)
On sale Jan/Feb 2020
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
