Real Madrid Beat Barcelona to Go Top

 

Champions Real Madrid moved top of La Liga with victory over Barcelona in an El Clasico played in torrential rain at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.

Karim Benzema broke the deadlock with a sublime near-post flick - his ninth goal in his past seven La Liga games.

Real doubled their lead before half-time through Toni Kroos' deflected free-kick.

Oscar Mingueza pulled one back for Barca before Madrid's Casemiro was shown a late red card.

Barca midfielder Ilaix Moriba's well-struck shot came back off the crossbar in stoppage time as the hosts held on.

The result takes Real level on points with Atletico Madrid and Real go ahead of their city rivals because of their superior head-to-head record.

Atletico, who led La Liga by 10 points as recently as 31 January, can reclaim top spot with victory at Real Betis on Sunday.