This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
Real Madrid maintained their title challenge in La Liga with a 3-0 win over Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday, June 18, 2020.
Karim Benzema scored one of the goals of the season as he fired into the bottom corner to give Real the lead on the hour mark after inspired play by Eden Hazard.
Marco Asensio scored with his first touch since injuring his knee 11 months ago to double Real's lead in the 74th minute.
Benzema rounded off the win with a jaw-dropping volley which he set up by receiving the ball in the air, flicking it from his right foot to his left and sending it flying into the top corner.
Valencia looked to have taken the lead when Rodrigo Moreno netted in the 20th minute but the goal was ruled out for offside against Maxi Gomez.
Valencia's frustrations deepened after the third goal when teenage midfielder Kang-In Lee was shown a straight red card for hacking at Sergio Ramos.
Real Madrid's win took them to 62 points after 29 games, two behind champions Barcelona who beat Leganes 2-0 on Tuesday.
"We started well but after that Valencia grew into the game and we knew we had to change something and push higher up the pitch, that's what we did and we won the game," said Asensio.
