Federico Valverde scored his seventh La Liga goal of the season as Real beat Osasuna
Federico Valverde scored his seventh La Liga goal of the season as Real beat Osasuna

Real Madrid moved five points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after battling past Osasuna.

In front of a fiery home crowd, Osasuna caused Real regular problems with their relentless pressure.

The visitors struggled in the final third with top scorer Karim Benzema absent through injury.

But second-half goals from Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio sealed a win which saw Carlo Ancelotti’s Real side cut the gap at the top.

It was a shaky first half for title chasers Real, who were forced to sit deep and attempt long balls towards Vinicius Jr, with Ancelotti confronting the referee over the number of fouls committed on the forward.

Madrid were much-improved after the break, and thought they had taken the lead when Vinicius finished from a David Alaba pass but the Brazilian attacker was offside.

Valverde finally found the breakthrough in the 78th minute as he produced a fine finish to send a Vinicius cut-back past Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.

Vinicius thought he had got in on the act when he tapped in a cross from 18-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez, but VAR ruled the goal out for an offside in the build-up.

But Asensio doubled Real’s lead less than a minute later after combining with Rodriguez.

Real are second in the table, five points behind Barcelona having played a game more, while Osasuna sit in 10th.