An early strike from Karim Benzema and some late heroics from Thibaut Courtois helped Real Madrid overcome Rayo Vallecano 1-0 on Saturday night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.Los Blancos were likely hoping for a more emphatic win in light of Wednesday's horrid Champions League home defeat to CSKA Moscow, but a lack of finishing limited them to a one-goal victory. Meanwhile,sbobet777 Rayo posed little threat for the majority of the affair until second-half stoppage time when Courtois had to react quickly to block two late efforts.Manager Santiago Solari stayed with Marcos Llorente in midfield, while up Lucas Vazquez came in for Isco and the banged-up Gareth Bale was replaced by Marco Asensio.Real were keen to get off to a good start and Benzema duly obliged, floating a cross-field pass to Lucas Vazquez, who then patiently waited for the Frenchman take make his off-the-ball run before feeding him back with a pass that Benzema fired into net for a 1-0 lead.Rayo looked to respond quickly and Emiliano Velasquez had it all there to head in a corner kick, but the Uruguayan's effort sailed just wide. Moments later at the other end Asensio was in one-one-one with Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in which the Macedonian stopper emerged the victor with a save.Los Blancos were playing with more confidence and a stretched-out Rayo defence was scrambling to snuff out Real's chances. Toni Kroos should have made it two after a nice touch from Benzema, but the German's laser strike thundered off the post.Luka Modric was flashing a bit of his Ballon d'Or form as well, and his playmaking led to a golden opportunity for Asensio, but hesbobet777 blasted his effort right at Dimitrievski.Despite Real's dominance, it was still just a one-goal contest as things drifted into the final half-hour and any time Rayo got forward, the nerves of the Bernabeu were tested. Solari finally went to his bench, bringing on Dani Ceballos for the mis-firing Asensio and later a knock to Benzema's leg made way for Vinicius' entry for the final quarter-hour.Rayo certainly fancied a result and had a few looks in the final stages, and a wicked hit up close from Alex Alegria off a Velasquez header looked destined for the equaliser, but Courtois was alert and made the block. The work wasn't done though as the rebound fell to Velasquez, who fired toward goal but again the Belgian was there to make the save and nail down the three points.Up next for Real is a trip to the UAE to begin their Club World Cup campaign on Wednesday in the semifinals versus Kashima Antlers.[url=https://sbobet.gclub-casino.com/tag/sbobet777/]sbobet777[/url