La Liga leaders Real Madrid yesterday gained a hard-fought 1-0 win over Mallorca thanks to Antonio Rudiger’s late header.
Mallorca hit the woodwork twice as Antonio Sanchez’s header bounced off the underside of the crossbar on to the goalline, with Samu Costa also hitting the post for the visitors.
Those misses proved costly as Rudiger headed in from Luka Modric’s fine left-wing corner in the 78th minute.
Real, now unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions, are three points clear.