Athletic Club 0-2 Real Madrid: Benzema scores stunner, Kroos nets late goal

Karim Benzema scores exquisite volley as Real Madrid chase Barcelona in La Liga table.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

7' CHANCE! Benzema's shot wide out

10' CLOSE! Aitor Paredes' header denied by Courtois

17' NICE TRY! Nico Williams' long shot inches wide

20' Asensio goes down in the box but ref says no penalty!

24' GOAL! Athletic Club 0-1 Real Madrid (Benzema)

50' Yellow Card! Berchiche booked

58' Yellow Card! Dani Vivian booked

62' Yellow Card! Eduardo Camavinga booked

66' MISS! Asensio's shot inches wide

69' What a miss! Nico Williams' shot wide out

78' OFFSIDE! Inaki Williams' goal disallowed

79' Yellow Card! Vinicius booked

88' CLOSE! Benzema's header wide out

90' GOAL! Athletic Club 0-2 Real Madrid (Kroos)

Match Report

Real Madrid stayed second in La Liga on Sunday after beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0.

Karim Benzema opened the scoring with a classy volley into the bottom right corner in the first half before Toni Kroos added a safety goal in the 90th minute.

The result means Real stay three points behind league leaders Barcelona, who beat Getafe earlier in the day.

Real Madrid have kept up the La Liga title pressure on rivals Barcelona thanks to a routine 2-0 win at Athletic Club.

Xavi’s league leaders won 1-0 at home to Getafe, to increase the pressure on Carlo Ancelotti’s defending champions in Bilbao, as they kicked off later.

Los Blancos captain Karim Benzema slammed home a superb opener on 23 minutes as the visitors struggled for fluency before the break.

The home side carried an inconsistent threat after the restart, but Real Madrid looked to have a second goal in them in Bilbao, as they clinched all three points in the final minute of normal time.

A counter attack was worked to substitute Toni Kroos on the edge of the box and the former German international curled home the clincher.

Up next for Ancelotti’s side is a crucial Copa del Rey quarter final derby against Atletico Madrid in midweek with La Real hosting Mallorca.

Line-ups

Athletic Club XI: De Marcos, Berchiche, I.Williams, Vesga, Berenguer, Unai Simón, Dani Vivian, Oier Zarraga, Oihan Sancet, Aitor Paredes, Nico Williams

Subs: R.García, Muniain, Balenziaga, Herrera, D.García, Capa, Lekue, Asier Villalibre, Gorka Guruzeta, Jon Morcillo, Unai Vencedor, Julen Agirrezabala

Real Madrid XI: Benzema, Courtois, Nacho, Rudiger, F Mendy, Asensio, Ceballos, Valverde, Militao, Vinicius, Eduardo Camavinga

Subs: Modric, Kroos, Mariano, Odriozola, Vallejo, Andriy Lunin, Rodrygo, Luis López