Boys from Brazil power Real to win over Osasuna

Football - La Liga Santander - Real Madrid v Osasuna - Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, Madrid, Spain - May 1, 2021. Real Madrid's Casemiro celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates. [REUTERS/Susana Vera]

Real Madrid's Brazilian duo Eder Militao and Casemiro struck in the second half to secure a 2-0 home win over stubborn Osasuna on Saturday and keep the heat on La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.

Defender Militao finally prised open the visitors by heading home from a corner in the 76th minute for his first league goal of the season.

Midfielder Casemiro made sure of the points four minutes later with a fortuitous strike when he attempted to control a through ball from Karim Benzema and sent it trickling into the bottom corner of the net, flummoxing keeper Sergio Herrera.

The win took second-placed Real to 74 points from 34 games after Atletico had moved onto 76 by riding their luck to win 1-0 at Elche earlier on Saturday. Fellow title rivals Barcelona and Sevilla are in action on Sunday and Monday respectively.