Federico Valverde continued his rich vein of form with another stunning goal as Real Madrid beat Elche 4-1 to move within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Quickfire goals from Antonio Rudiger and Valverde late in the first half put Real in control, before Dean Huijsen scored midway through the second and Arda Guler lobbed Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro from inside his own half.
Substitute Manuel Angel converted a low cross into his own net to hand Elche a late consolation.
After the high of sweeping Manchester City aside 3-0 in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday, Real made a slow start against an Elche side winless in 10 games.
The hosts created little for more than half an hour and were left frustrated when Fran Garcia and Aurelien Tchouameni had penalty appeals turned down.
But when a Valverde free-kick was parried back into danger and Rudiger volleyed home the 39th-minute opener, Los Blancos began to play with greater fluidity.
Five minutes later Valverde curled a strike into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area for his fifth goal in three games, following a crucial stoppage-time winner against Celta Vigo last weekend and his superb midweek hat-trick against City.
Brahim Diaz should have scored when he ran through on goal minutes into the second half, but he blazed over with only Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro to beat.
Huijsen made the result comfortable in the 66th minute when he headed in a cross from 18-year-old substitute Daniel Yanez.
After Angel’s late own-goal, there was still time for Guler to spot Dituro off his goal-line and send an audacious lob into the back of the net.
Kylian Mbappe remained absent with a knee injury, but manager Alvaro Arbeloa said he is confident the France striker will return for Tuesday’s trip to Manchester.
After losing two of their past three league games, Real Madrid move one point behind table toppers Barcelona having played one game more.
The defending champions will re-establish a four-point buffer if they beat Sevilla on Sunday (15:15 GMT).
Real’s next La Liga outing is against city rivals Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu on Sunday, 22 March (20:00).
Elche, now winless in 11 league games, remain 17th in the table, one point above the relegation zone. They will drop to 18th if Mallorca defeat Espanyol on Sunday (13:00).
