Real Madrid beat Valencia to stay on Barcelona's heels

VALENCIA, Spain, Feb 8 : Real Madrid stayed within one point of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 win at Valencia on Sunday as second-half goals by Alvaro Carreras and Kylian Mbappe settled a largely uneventful contest.

Real dominated possession but found chances hard to come by, with Valencia keeper Stole Dimitrievski rarely called into action as the visitors struggled to turn control into threat.

The deadlock was broken in the 65th minute when left back Carreras profited from a scramble in the box, reacting quickest after a deflection to drive a low shot into the bottom-left corner.

Mbappe sealed the points in added time, meeting a low cross from substitute Brahim Diaz on the counter-attack to finish first time from close range.