Gareth Bale scores twice as Real Madrid see off Leganes

Gareth Bale scored two first-half goals as Real Madrid dispatched minnows Leganes 3-0 to record their first clean sheet in 11 matches.

Bale struck his six and seventh goals of the season in the last seven minutes of the first half and Alvaro Morata added the game-clinching third in the second period to help lift Zinedine Zidane's side five points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Barcelona will look to close that gap in their evening game at Sevilla, but Real's fourth straight league win was never in doubt after Bale tapped home his second goal in first-half stoppage time.

Real's five-game winning run in all competitions was halted in midweek as they were held to a 3-3 draw by Legia Warsaw in the Champions League and they struggled to find any rhythm early on.

Madrid-based Leganes, in the top tier of Spanish football for the first time and also appearing at the Bernabeu for the first time, defended desperately from the off and some tough tackling kept Real frustrated for all but the closing stages of the first period.

Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier blazed Real's best chance over the crossbar after bursting into the penalty area.

But Bale made no mistake when he latched on to Isco's superb ball over the top, taking the ball round Leganes goalkeeper Jon Ander Serantes and side-footing home the opening goal in the 38th minute.

Leganes almost hit back through Alexander Szymanowski, whose angled drive was deflected over the crossbar by Raphael Varane, but Real ruthlessly doubled their lead with their only other chance in the first period.

Varane headed on a long free-kick into the box and when the ball rebounded off Morata, Bale was quickest to react, pouncing on the loose ball to turn home his seventh goal of the season from three yards.

Serantes denied Bale his hat-trick early in the second half when saving brilliantly to keep out the Welshman's towering header.

Real midfielder Luka Modric stepped off the bench to replace Mateo Kovacic and make his first appearance in eight games after a knee injury, but the home side took their foot off the gas and Leganes almost capitalised.

Argentinian forward Szymanowski's brilliant first touch in the area allowed him to fire in a rising shot that forced Keylor Navas into a fine save, the Real goalkeeper's first of the match.

But any hopes the visitors had of getting back into the contest were dashed in the 76th minute.

Modric's superb throughball picked out Morata and the Spain international coolly slotted the ball beyond Serantes from in front of goal and Real comfortably saw the game out to extend their unbeaten home league run this season to six matches.