MADRID: Karim Benzema and referee Jesus Gil Manzano looked at each other and started to laugh. The Ballon d’Or winner couldn’t bear seeing another one of his goals being disallowed.
He had already found the net twice, but neither had counted because of offside. That third one did, though, and Madrid defeated Elche 3-0 on Wednesday to increase their Spanish league lead after defeating Barcelona in the first “clasico” of the season on Sunday.
Madrid opened a six-point lead over their Catalan rival, who will host seventh-place Villarreal on Thursday. It was the ninth win in 10 matches for the defending champions.
Madrid remain the only unbeaten team in the league. Earlier, the start of the match between Real Sociedad and Mallorca was delayed for about 15 minutes after a Sociedad fan fell ill in the stands and later died.