Madrid - Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice as Real Madrid was thankful to a late missed penalty from Duje Cop to open up a seven-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win over Sporting Gijon.
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Madrid looked set for an easy afternoon as Ronaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot before he headed home a second inside 20 minutes.
However, Carlos Carmona halved Sporting's deficit 10 minutes before half-time and the struggling visitor was handed a huge chance for an unexpected point 12 minutes from time when Nacho brought down Victor Rodriguez.
Yet, Cop sent his penalty high and wide as Real held on amidst a torrential downpour to extend its unbeaten run to 31 games in all competitions.
Barca can cut the gap back to four points with a win over Real Sociedad on Sunday ahead of the first Clasico of the season between Spanish football's two giants at the Camp Nou next weekend.