Kylian Mbapp and Vincius Jnior scored goals in a five-minute span in the first half and Real Madrid held on to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 and move level on points with Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league.
Mbapp scored in the 30th minute on Sunday and Vincius doubled the lead in the 34th to give Madrid the same 57 points as Barcelona, which had its match against Osasuna on Saturday postponed after the death of first-team doctor Carles Miarro Garcia.
There was a moment of silence at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in honor of the Barcelona doctor.
Barcelona remains ahead of Madrid on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
"It's a nice feeling because the goal was to get the three points," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
"We could have been up 3-0 in the first half but it ended 2-1. And in the second half we had opportunities to go up 3-1."
Rayo hit back with a goal from Pedro Daz in first-half stoppage time. It hasn't won in four straight league matches, with three losses and a ...