Madrid: Gareth Bale made up for the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, scoring late in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday to keep alive his team's hopes of winning the Spanish League.
Bale scored with a firm header after a well-placed cross by Lucas Vazquez in the 80th minute, giving Madrid its 10th-straight league win and putting pressure on Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane's team took the provisional lead with 84 points, two more than Barcelona and Atletico.
Atletico Madrid hosts 16th-place Rayo Vallecano later Saturday, while defending champion Barcelona plays at Real Betis.
There are two rounds left after this weekend.
Madrid was without Ronaldo and Benzema because of hamstring injuries ahead of Wednesday's Champions League semifinal against Manchester City. The first leg was 0-0 in England.
"We've been suffering with injuries, but the team has responded well," Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said. "The players who have come in have played well, this has been key for us."
Real Madrid dominated from the start at Anoeta Stadium but had difficulties getting past Sociedad's Argentine goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
"We knew it was going to be a difficult match, but we went for the win from the start," Ramos said. "We created a lot of chances but just couldn't capitalize on them."
Bale had already missed a few good opportunities before finally scoring the winner in the northeastern city of San Sebastian.
His best chance had been in the 57th, when he got to a loose ball inside the area but had his low shot from near the penalty spot blocked by Rulli.
Bale finally broke through by jumping high over a defender to meet Vazquez's cross from the right side, sending the ball into the upper corner. Madrid's victory again left Barcelona and Atletico Madrid having to win their matches to return to the top of the table.
"We earned three important points, now the only thing we can do is hope that the other teams fail atop the standings," Ramos said. "We put some pressure on them. Let's see what happens."
