Real Madrid moved to within 10 points of FC Barcelona at the top of LaLiga with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Cadiz on Saturday night.
Although Carlo Ancelotti rested several key players ahead of his side’s Champions League quarterfinal return leg in London next week, apart from an early scare when ‘Pacha’ Espino rattled the post, they were in control.
Cadiz keeper David Gil produced several good saves and Karim Benzema hit the post before Nacho Fernandez opened the scoring with a 72nd minute thunderbolt and Marco Asensio made it 2-0 to seal the points three minutes later.
Barcelona play away to Getafe on Sunday afternoon.
Two goals from Inaki Williams gave Athletic Bilbao a 2-0 win at home to fourth place Real Sociedad in the Basque derby in the San Mames Stadium.
Williams put his side ahead with a scrambled goal following a 33rd minute corner in a first half Athletic dominated. He added the second with a powerful shot to finish off a perfect counter-attack with 20 minutes left to play.
Betis moved to within three points of Real Sociedad with a 3-1 win at home to Espanyol, who remain second from bottom of the table.
Luiz Henrique set up Ayoze Perez for his first goal since joining Betis in the 26th minute and Ayoze then passed for Juan Miranda to score Betis’ second of the game, just seven minutes later.
Cesar Montes got Espanyol back into the game two minutes into the second half, but just as Espanyol were pressing for an equalizer, William Carvalho made the game safe in the 68th minute with a powerful shot.
Villarreal’s hopes of a top-four finish suffered a setback when they were beaten 2-1 at home to Valladolid, who gain three vital points in their battle to avoid relegation.
Selim Amallah put Valladolid ahead in the second minute and Jawad El Yamiq doubled their lead in the 34th minute, with Etienne Capoue pulling a goal back for the home side with 16 minutes left to play.
On Friday night, Rayo Vallecano ended an eight-game run without a win when they defeated Osasuna 2-1 thanks to an own goal from Aridane Hernandez after 40 minutes and a second from Isi Palazon three minutes later.
