Real Madrid striking duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain grabbed a goal apiece as Real moved to within one point of leaders Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 home win over third-placed Valencia on Sunday to set up a thrilling finale to the title race.
Barcelona’s 0-0 draw at Espanyol 24 hours earlier had given Real a chance to close the gap and Real capitalized on the slip with Higuain netting his 25th goal of the season after 25 minutes before Ronaldo finished the game off on 77 minutes with his 20th goal of the season.
With five games left Real are just a point behind their arch rivals although if the two teams finish level on points Barcelona will win the title because of their superior head-to-head record.
PHOTO: REUTERS
It was a 16th league home win of the season from 17 games by Real — with a defeat to Barcelona the only blemish.
Valencia, a massive 24 points behind Real in third, are five points ahead of fourth-placed Sevilla following their eighth defeat of the campaign and they will rue David Silva’s shot hitting the post minutes before Ronaldo grabbed the second goal.
There was no Kaka again for Real with the Brazilian still not fully fit while Sergio Ramos continued in central defense in the absence of Ezequiel Garay.
For Valencia the spotlight was on midfielder Silva with the Spanish international strongly linked with Real in the local media.
Guti should have scored on 19 minutes after a great cut-back from Ronaldo but the midfielder pulled his left-footed shot wide.
It was backs to the wall for Valencia and Higuain struck on 25 minutes with a neat turn to beat his man before dispatching past former Real goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez.
Valencia stayed in the game, however, and Silva thumped a brilliant shot off the post on 74 minutes.
Four minutes later Marcelo raced down the left and set up Ronaldo for the decisive second goal to end Valencia’s resistance.
Elsewhere Tenerife striker Juan Nino scored a hat-trick to help the promoted side defeat Getafe 3-2 and move one point from safety with five games left.
Getafe went ahead through Pedro Leon on 10 minutes but Nino replied on 30 minutes with his first goal and then scored twice inside seven minutes to complete his treble.
Tenerife lie third from bottom but are now just a point behind 17th placed Malaga while Getafe fall two points off the top six.
Athletic Bilbao missed the chance to go above Villarreal into sixth following a 0-0 home draw with strugglers Real Zaragoza.
Bilbao, now level on points with Villarreal, had won five out of the last six at their San Mames home but came up against a resilient Zaragoza side who are two points above the bottom three.
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