Real Madrid are on course to stretching their seven-game winning run in La Liga having gone into half time 2-1 ahead against Rayo Vallecano.

The home side took the lead with nine minutes played through Gareth Bale, who marked his return to the starting lineup following an injury lay off by converting Toni Kroos's cross beyond Cristian Alvarez.

Despite their early lead, Madrid struggled to build on their advantage and found clear-cut chances hard to come by as the first half wore on, although that soon changed when James Rodriguez forced Alvarez into making a superb save to keep out his long-range drive.

Five minutes before the interval, Los Blancos, who have won their last 12 games in all competitions, found their flow once more and came close to doubling the scoreline when Karim Benzema's header came back off the crossbar.

Sergio Ramos did manage to find a second to seemingly give his side some breathing space heading into the break - diverting a corner into the back of the net in an unorthodox manner using his thigh.

Madrid failed to hold onto their two-goal lead, however, with Leo Baptistao capitalising on James's weak back pass to set up Alberto Bueno for an easy finish to keep the game alive.