Madrid defeats Girona to keep title chase alive

Real Madrid picked up a comfortable 2-0 victory over Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu to keep the La Liga title race open.

Goals from Luka Modric and Vinicius Jr. gave Madrid the win as they remain levelled on points with Barcelona.

The game started with Los Blancos struggling to break down the resilient Girona side.

However, they broke the deadlock in the 41th minute, courtesy of Modric’s worldie. The Croatian fired home an unstoppable volley from the edge of the box that left goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga with no chance.

Meanwhile, the second half saw a better Madrid, but again, they struggled to find the second goal. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius had chances, but poor finishing, impressive goalkeeping and crucial defending from Girona centre-back Ladislav Krejci denied them.

However, Carlo Ancelotti boys broke the solid Girona side in the 83rd minute, as Mbappe and Vinicius combined well to make it 2-0. The Brazilian was played through by Mbappe, who caught Gazzaniga off guard, and trickled the ball into the back of the net.

Madrid almost made it 3-0, when a great play from Endrick found Mbappe, but the Frenchman was denied again by Gazzaniga.

Madrid remains levelled with Barcelona, but behind by goal difference, as they also welcomed David Alaba back to the squad, after 14 months.

Ancelotti’s side will now look forward to Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Real Sociedad.