BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Marco Asensio scored and helped force an own-goal to lead Real Madrid to a 3-0 win at home over Eibar in the Spanish league on Sunday.
The 21-year-old forward got Madrid going in the 18th minute when his well-placed cross meant for Sergio Ramos was headed into the net by Eibar defender Paulo Oliveira.
Asensio put the result beyond doubt 10 minutes later at the Santiago Bernabeu when he drove Francisco “Isco” Alarcon’s cross under goalkeeper Marco Dmitrovic.
Marcelo rounded off the victory in the 82nd after substitute Karim Benzema set him up.
Following a rocky start with only two wins in the first five rounds, Zinedine Zidane’s team has now won four straight in the league as it remained in third place. Barcelona leads by four points over Valencia, with Madrid another point behind.
“Not everything went perfectly, but we are happy for the win,” Zidane said. “It was important to get the three points and to score that many goals.”
The goal was Asensio’s fifth of the season, and his third in the league to go with two from the Spanish Super Cup.
Dmitrovic could have done more to keep out Asensio’s goal, but the Eibar ’keeper also denied Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo their chances to add to the lead.
ATLETICO ENDS SLUMP
Atletico Madrid broke a four-game winless streak across all competitions after eking out a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo. Diego Simeone’s side is fourth - a point behind Real Madrid.
Striker Kevin Gameiro scored his first goal of the season in the 28th when he swept home a poor clearance of a corner kick by Celta’s Sergi Gomez.
The much-needed victory came after back-to-back draws in the league along with a 2-1 loss to Chelsea and a 0-0 draw at Qarabag in Azerbaijan in the Champions League.
Atletico did little more than cling to the advantage as Celta tried to equalize.
“They made us wait a long time to get this win, and that was why we worked as hard as we did today,” Simeone said. “The team showed that it can dig in, and that it doesn’t mind holding up in its area if it has to protect a result.”
Celta played with a large section of its Balaidos Stadium closed due to safety concerns regarding the structure of the stands. Club president Carlos Mourino said that Celta will refund the cost of the tickets for the seats that had to be left empty.
BEAUVUE BEAUTY
Claudio Beauvue’s superb solo goal gave Leganes a 1-0 win at home over Athletic Bilbao.
The French forward led a counterattack from near midfield, dodged one tackle, changed feet to avoid a second challenge, and rifled the ball over goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for the 54th-minute goal.
Leganes, a small club from Madrid, is the surprise of the season in Spain. It has five wins and just two losses and has risen into fifth place ahead of Villarreal and Sevilla.
VILLARREAL ROUT
Villarreal increased its winning streak in the league to three matches after beating Las Palmas 4-0 at home.
Cedric Bakambu, Mario Gaspar and Nicola Sansone all scored for Villarreal, along with Ximo Navarro’s own-goal.
The fifth straight loss left Las Palmas in the relegation zone.
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