Real Madrid top Cadiz 2-0
Sports Desk, Apr 15 (EFE).- Cadiz kept Real Madrid off the scoreboard for more than 70 minutes Saturday thanks to some spectacular goalkeeping by David Gil, but the Blancos scored twice inside of five minutes to dispatch the hosts.
The reigning LaLiga champions improved to 62 points, 10 points behind leaders Barcelona, who will be in action Sunday against 16th-place Getafe.
The Blancos’ capital rivals, Atletico Madrid, are third with 57 points, but can narrow the gap with a victory Sunday over Almeria, currently 17th.
Saturday’s result leaves Cadiz 15th in the table, only 4 points above the drop zone.
Carlo Ancelotti made half-a-dozen changes to the lineup that beat Chelsea 2-0 Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal and he left Real Madrid’s most in-form player, Vinicius Jr., out of the squad entirely with an eye toward next week’s second leg in London.
And though the visitors would end the game with 70 percent possession and 35 shots to just 12 for the visitors, the first chance of the night fell to Cadiz defender Pacha Espino, who hit the post in the 12th minute.
Gil denied Marco Asensio in the 16th minute and Karim Benzema two minutes later. And with 10 minutes left in the first half, he stopped Asensio and watched with relief as Benzema sent the rebound over the cross-bar.
The Blancos got their breakthrough in the 72nd minute, when Nacho Hernandez beat Gil with a strike from the edge of the area. Asensio added an insurance goal in the 76th.
EFE jap/dr
