Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-0 to close in on Barcelona in LaLiga

PAMPLONA, Spain : Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio netted second-half goals as Real Madrid won 2-0 away to Osasuna to cut the gap to LaLiga leaders Barcelona to five points, but the reigning champions had to battle all the way to get their victory.

After a bad-tempered first half that saw four players booked, Vinicius Junior had the ball in the net for Real Madrid in the 52nd minute, but the goal was chalked off when he was found to be offside when the ball was played in to him.

Osasuna began to assert themselves, with Moi Gomez hitting the post in the 62nd minute and Jon Moncayola blazing a shot just wide three minutes later, and those misses were to prove costly for the home side.

With Karim Benzema missing through injury, Vinicius had to bear the creative burden and he teed up Valverde to score in the 78th minute. Asensio added a second goal in stoppage time to lift Real Madrid to 51 points, five behind Barcelona, who play Cadiz on Sunday.