MADRID: Karim Benzema answered his critics by scoring the 61st-minute winner in Real Madrid's 1-0 victory over Mallorca Sunday. The France striker gathered a pass in front of the area, shuffled to his left and beat goalkeeper Dudu Aouate with a low shot for his second league goal of the season. The strike allowed Madrid to stay within four points of Spanish League leader Barcelona despite a labored performance at Santiago Bernabeu stadium, with Cristiano Ronaldo below par and the ineffective Kaka being replaced by halftime. Benzema has been a substitute the past two games and endured a week in which both coach Jose Mourinho and Brazil playmaker Kaka criticized his failure to establish himself as the team's No. 1 striker with Gonzalo Higuain out injured. The Bernabeu had little to cheer in a listless first half, with the forward line of Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema lacking spark and Mallorca nearly scoring. Emilio Nsue orchestrated the bulk of Mallorca's chances and was unlucky when his shot beat goalkeeprr Iker Casillas but came off the far post in the 13th. Mallorca striker Pierre Webo headed weakly at Casillas in the 39th when the Cameroon international had time to collect the ball and try a shot. Madrid director general Jorge Valdano said his club is working on signing extra firepower before the close of the January transfer window. “The whole club is focused on this and we have this week to close a deal,” Valdano told Canal Plus TV after the game. Madrid improved to 16-0 at home in all competitions this season and now has 51 points. Barcelona beat Racing Santander 3-0 Saturday for its 14th straight league win to improve to 55 points. Earlier, Espanyol kept up its chase of a Champions League place by rallying to beat Getafe 3-1 earlier. Getafe led after 14 minutes through Venezuela striker Nicolas “Miku” Fedor, but Espanyol went ahead after Luis Garcia, Jose Callejon and Sergio Garcia scored in an 11-minute span in the second half. Espanyol moved seven points clear of sixth-place Atletico Madrid, which limped to a 1-0 defeat at Sporting Gijon. Atletico slipped nine points back of fourth-place Villarreal, which played Real Sociedad later. Sporting moved out of the drop zone places alongside Zaragoza, which secured a 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna with Sad Boutahar's 38th-minute free kick. Sporting and Zaragoza's victories kept Almeria in the relegation places but the Andalucian club moved off the bottom of the table ahead of Malaga and Levante with a 3-1 win over Osasuna, which is just a point above Almeria. It was Almeria's first league win of the season at its Juegos Mediterraneos stadium. On Saturday, Malaga lost 4-3 at Valencia and Sevilla beat Levante 4-1. Qatar interested in Manchester United An investment group controlled by the Qatari royal family held secret discussions last month with the owners of Manchester United over a possible takeover of the English club, a report said Sunday. The Sunday Times said the talks faltered because the Glazer family, which owns United, asked too much from Qatar Holding, which was unwilling to pay more than 1.5 billion pounds (1.7 billion euros, 2.4 billion dollars). However, the paper said that football sources believe Qatar will return with a higher offer because it wants the club to help boost its profile ahead of the 2022 World Cup Finals in the Gulf emirate. A source close to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) said on Jan. 16 that the Qatari royal family was not looking to invest in a European football club despite rumours to the contrary. Meanwhile, Manchester United said Sunday it was not for sale after the Sunday Times reported about the Qatar Holding's move. No one from Qatar Holding was immediately available to comment.
