Bale, Ronaldo give stuttering Real relief at Eibar

Real Madrid got their La Liga title challenge back on course despite an underwhelming performance as goals from Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo handed them a 2-0 win at Eibar.

In front of a capacity 6,000 crowd at Ipurua, Madrid did little to dispel the doubts caused by their 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona last weekend but Bale’s first-half header and a late penalty from Ronaldo were enough for all three points on Sunday. Madrid remain in third, but victory takes Rafael Benitez’s men back to within six points of league leaders Barca and two points of city rivals Atletico Madrid.

“The important thing was to get the three points and do so with this spirit of sacrifice,” said Madrid boss Rafael Benitez. “The fans know that the most important thing when you have players of this quality is that they also work as they did on Monday. 

“That is the key if we want to continue being strong in the future.” Eibar have enjoyed a stellar start to just their second season in the top flight, but as against Barcelona and Atletico in their only other two prior defeats this season, they didn’t have enough quality to trouble Madrid in the final third.