Real Madrid secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Girona at the Bernabeu to go level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
The visitors defended stubbornly in the first half but were eventually breached by a stunning effort from Luka Modric, who latched onto a clearance, waited for the ball to drop and drilled a sumptuous half-volley into the top corner.
A 1-0 lead was always likely to be precarious, though, and there was a sense of nervousness heading into the latter stages. But Vinicius Junior scored his ninth league goal of the season, poking home having been played through by Kylian Mbappe, whose assist took his total goal contributions to 20 in La Liga.
Real Madrid started the game brightly, with Mbappe and Vinicius a constant threat for a Girona side on a poor run of form. This was a third successive league defeat for Michel’s team.
Mbappe tested Paulo Gazzaniga in the opening stages, and there were glimpses of goal for Vinicius soon after.
At the other end, former Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek was denied by an excellent Thibaut Courtois save having found space in the box. That was a rare opportunity for the visitors, who quickly found themselves on the back foot again.
Girona largely defended well, though, until the moment of sheer quality from Modric, who turns 40 in September. The indefatigable Croatian showed no sign of deterioration as he struck his shot with frightening power and precision.
That sent Real Madrid into the break on a high, and when they came back out they were lively, Mbappe flashing an effort just wide and Aurelien Tchouameni heading a free-kick over the bar.
Girona occasionally threatened to do some damage on the break but the final ball was lacking, and they were continually forced back by a Los Blancos side with so much devastating pace in attack.
And that extra speed proved decisive in the end as Mbappe spotted the run of Vinicius, sliding the Brazilian through with 83 minutes on the clock. He made no mistake, directing his finish coolly past the goalkeeper and sealing victory for Real Madrid.
They move onto 54 points, level with Barcelona, who won 2-0 at Las Palmas yesterday. Atletico Madrid – who will play Real Madrid in a blockbuster UEFA Champions League last 16 tie, live on TNT Sports next month – are just one point behind in third after beating Valencia 3-0 on Saturday.