Gareth Bale scores as Real Madrid comfortably beat Almería to go second

Gareth Bale celebrates scoring Real Madrid's second goal against Almería in La Liga at the Bernabéu. Photograph: Andres Kudacki/AP Real Madrid once again did not miss the injured Cristiano Ronaldo as they bounced back from a poor performance in the 2-0 Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund with a dominant win against Almería. Ángel di María, Gareth Bale, Isco and Álvaro Morata scored at the Bernabéu to move Real back up to second, and keep Almería in the relegation zone. Di María hit the crossbar to set the tone early and followed up in the 28th minute by curling in the opener. Madrid toyed with Almería until Bale scored his 14th league goal of the season from Karim Benzema's pass in the 53rd minute, with Isco scoring three minutes later. Morata scored five minutes from time. "We knew that the league would have more twists," Di María said. "We were behind [Barcelona] and then we were ahead, we fell behind again and now we are back in front. We know that we have to treat each remaining game as if it were the last."