Madrid played the final minutes with 10 men after Cristiano Ronaldo was injured

Real Madrid kept pace with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga by comfortably beating fourth-placed Villarreal at the Bernabeu.

Striker Karim Benzema instinctively headed Villarreal keeper Sergio Asenjo’s parry back into an empty net to give Real a 1-0 lead at the break.

Lucas Vazquez drilled in a low second, before Luka Modric slid in to wrap up Real’s eighth straight La Liga win.

Third-placed Real are a point behind the top two with four games left.

But there was a late concern for coach Zinedine Zidane when Cristiano Ronaldo limped off in injury-time.