体坛英语新闻：Madrid stroll past Rayo 2-0

MADRID, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid coach will be thinking better late than never after watching his side defeated Rayo Vallecano 2-0 in Rayo's Vallecas Stadium on Monday.

The game had been scheduled to be played on Sunday night but had to be postponed after someone cut the electricity cables in Vallecas meaning it was impossible to play the game at the scheduled 21:30 on Sunday.

The go-ahead to play was only given at 15:00 hours on Monday after hasty repair work in Vallecas ahead of a test which showed the lights were once again in full working order.

The game as such was an anti-climax and Real Madrid rarely suffered against a Rayo side that worked hard and was well organized, but which was unable to cause problems to the Real Madrid defense.

Real Madrid took the lead after 13 minutes thanks to a swift counter-attack which ended with Angel de Maria putting a pinpoint cross onto the boot of Karim Benzema, who netted his second goal in two matches after previously not scoring since May.

A physical match saw Madrid defender Pepe need treatment after a no holds barred challenge with Rayo winger Lass, but Madrid's win was safe midway through the second half after Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty after Rayo Amat blocked a cross from the right with his hands. It was probably involuntary, but nobody could deny that Amat stopped a cross going into the Rayo area.

There was time for Ronaldo to miss an open goal as Madrid were able to exploit their speed on the break, but Rayo were unable to make their hard work count and the fact is that Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas was a virtual spectator for nearly all of the match.