Real Madrid win again with helping hand from Courtois

Goals from Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema with some top-class saves from Thibaut Courtois gave Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Levante on Sunday for a third consecutive La Liga victory.

Brazilian forward Vinicius, Real Madrid’s match-winner in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Real Valladolid, also gave his side the lead at Levante.

He controlled a loose ball inside the area and took his time to curl into the far corner in the 16th minute.

Real Madrid missed chances to extend their lead but in the end had to rely on another exceptional performance from Courtois to see out the victory.

Benzema later added their second goal deep in added time on the break.

The win took the champions top of the standings with 10 points after four games, in spite of starting the season later than many of their rivals.

Real Madrid should have put the game out of Levante’s reach in a blistering start to the second period in which Benzema fired against the post.

And Vinicius danced past two defenders only to miss the target from close range.

Team captain Sergio Ramos looked to have found the all-important second goal when he headed home from a free-kick, but the effort was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

Real Madrid ended up riding their luck to cling to their advantage.

Courtois made himself big and thwarted a shot from Carlos Clerc with his legs, after making three saves to deny Enis Bardhi.

Time was almost up when Benzema skipped through on goal unchallenged and smashed high into the net to make sure of the victory.