Real Madrid forward James Rodriguez has claimed that his side deserved to beat Cordoba, even though they needed a late Gareth Bale penalty to secure all three points.

The Caliphs opened the scoring from the spot within the first three minutes of the game, but Karim Benzema equalised for Los Blancos just before the half-hour mark.

Cordoba appeared to be on course for a shock draw, but a handball in the box late on prompted the referee to give Madrid a penalty, which Bale duly converted for a final score of 2-1.

Rodriguez told AS after the game: "It takes a lot to win these games because [Cordoba] play very deep, closing the spaces.

"We always want to win because we are Real Madrid. The final result was fair."

Real Madrid continue to lead the La Liga table, four points above Barcelona.