MADRID: Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga struck scorching goals from outside the area to lead Real Madrid from behind to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 and increase their lead at the top of La Liga on Saturday.

After his midfielders scored just before halftime to overturn an early spot kick by Mikel Oyarzabal, Karim Benzema added a second-half penalty to put the result beyond doubt and take his league-leading goal tally to 20. Marco Ase­nsio then finished off the demoralised visitors.

Real will prepare for Wednesday’s critical game against Paris St Germain with the French powerhouses holding a 1-0 advantage going into the return leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.

The comeback over Sociedad lifted Real to 63 points, eight clear of second-placed Sevilla. Sociedad could have gone third with a win but they stay sixth on 44 points.

“This is the intensity that we need to have on Wednesday,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference. We can replicate today’s game against PSG. “It’s a performance that inspires and give us a lot of energy and confidence to fight back from the 1-0 loss that we suffered in the first leg at Paris.”

Real dominated the game but they fell behind after 10 minutes to a penalty converted by Oyarzabal after Dani Carvajal tripped David Silva.

Teenager Camavinga came to the rescue five minutes before halftime, rifling home the equaliser from 25 metres with an unstoppable left-footer that went in off the post.

Roared on at a nearly sold-out Santiago Bernabeu, Modric then put the hosts ahead with another long-range shot that flew into the top corner of Alex Remiro’s goal.

Benzema, who had two goals chalked off by the video assistant referee for offside, finally scored in the 76th minute with a penalty after VAR spotted a foul on Vinicius Jr.

Three minutes later, Asensio made it four, finishing off Carvajal’s cut-back to round off a commanding win.

Osasuna ended Villarreal’s six-game unbeaten streak after Chimy Avila scored a second-half header to secure a 1-0 home victory. The loss stalled fifth-placed Villarreal’s climb up the standings to get within reach of the Champions League berths.

Goncalo Guedes kept up his good scoring form with his 12th goal in all competitions to help Valencia beat Granada 2-0.

Espanyol got their first win of 2022 after beating Getafe 2-0 in Barcelona thanks to a goal by Leandro Cabrera and an own-goal by Getafe’s Erick Cabaco.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2022