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| Real Madrid's James Rodriguez, left, struggles against Espanyol's Gerard Moreno during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Espanyol and Real Madrid at RCDE stadium in Cornella Llobregat, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) |
Real Madrid equaled
a record set by rival Barcelona as James Rodriguez and Karim
Benzema scored in a 2-0 defeat of Espanyol on Sunday in the Spanish
league.
Associated
Press report continues:
It
was the 16th straight league win for Madrid, going back to last season,
matching Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in the 2010-11 season.
Madrid
maintained a three-point lead over Barcelona with its fourth straight league
victory this season.
Celta
Vigo and Valencia remained winless, while Villarreal stayed near the
top thanks to a spectacular goal from near the halfway line by Italian striker Nicola
Sansone.
Madrid's
victory came despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth
Bale, who were rested by coach Zinedine Zidane.
''What
is important is to keep adding points,'' Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla said.
''We are happy because we won again and stayed in the lead.''
Madrid
is the only team to have won four straight to start the league. Barcelona won
5-1 at Leganes on Saturday to rebound from a 2-1 home loss to Alaves a week
ago. Atletico Madrid routed Sporting Gijon 5-0 to win its second consecutive
match and reach eight points, behind third-place Las Palmas, the league's early
surprise team.
Rodriguez opened the scoring by converting a penalty kick in first-half injury time and Benzema sealed the away victory from close range in the 71st minute.
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