The runaway leaders in Spain were made to work for their win at the mid-table outfit though, with a stubborn Rayo side keeping the match goalless up until half-time.

Jose Mourinho's side took the lead nine minutes after the break though, with Ronaldo scoring a remarkable goal.

Mesut Oezil's corner was not cleared properly and fell into Ronaldo's path, before the Portuguese star attempted a backheel from 10 yards.

Ronaldo managed to hit the ball with a surprising level of power and it flew through a crowd of bodies and into the back of the net.

To Rayo's credit, they stayed in the match and always remained a threat of pinching an equaliser, although their task was made harder when Michu was given a straight red card in the latter stages.

But Real managed to hang on for a valuable three points to give them their seventh win in a row against Rayo.

In other matches, Sevilla came from behind to win 2-1 at Valencia.

Alberto Costa had given the hosts a 25th minute lead but Gary Medel responded 11 minutes later for Sevilla.

And Jesus Navas got the winner with 20 minutes to play, as he converted Frederic Kanoute's assist.

Osasuna beat Granada by the same scoreline, with Javad Nekounam and Dejan Lekic scoring for the winners, while Agirretxe scored the only goal of the game in Real Sociedad's 1-0 win over Mallorca.

Strugglers Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao played out a 2-2 draw in the other match of the day, with Nilmar's 68th minute equaliser enough to give Jose Molina's side a point.

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