Madrid remained perfect in 22 games in all competitions at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium this season and provisionally moved to within four points of league leader Barcelona ahead of its visit to Sevilla on Sunday. With topscorer Cristiano Ronaldo recovering from a leg injury, Benzema's quality stood out in an otherwise uninspiring performance from his team. The France striker grabbed the lead for the hosts in the 24th finishing off a nice team buildup, and sealed the win in the 56th with a great individual effort. Hercules started well, but it failed to convert its good football into a goal, and has gone 11 games without scoring away from Alicante. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho rested midfielder Xabi Alonso and defender Pepe with the return leg of his team's Champions League round of 16 series against Lyon set for Wednesday. Madrid lacked the creative team attack that was showed without Ronaldo last week at Racing Santander when it played its most attractive football of the season in an electric first half. Hercules had the first shot on goal in the 10th when former Madrid striker Javier Portillo weakly rolled the ball into the arms of goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and defender Noe Paramot sent a header over the crossbar in the 17th. But Mesut Oezil sparked Madrid with a pass to right back Alvaro Arbeloa, who crossed low for Benzema to fire in unmarked. Despite going behind, Hercules did not fold as goalkeeper Juan Calatayud saved a header from Emmanuel Adebayor in the 28th, and Casillas had to make saves to deny Olivier Thomert and Fransisco Femenia before halftime. Adebayor came close to Madrid's second right after the restart when his header rattled the crossbar before Benzema decided the match. Benzema received the ball in the left corner, advanced along the end line before cutting back and shooting inside the far post with a beautiful right-footed strike. Benzema, much questioned during the first half of the season, has nine goals in league play. Calatayud made a number of saves as time ran down to prevent Hercules from suffering a worse defeat. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid squandered a double by Sergio Aguero to settle for a 2-2 draw at Almeria. Aguero gave Atletico the lead once in each half, but his team's lackluster defense relinquished the advantage on both occasions. Almeria's Albert Crusat canceled out Aguero's 39th-minute opener with a volley in the 49th. The Argentina forward made it 2-1 for the visitors in the 61st, perfectly placing a left-footed shot inside the post of Diego Alves' goal, but substitute striker Henok Goitom headed home to pull Almeria even in the 77th. Aguero leads Atletico with 11 goals this season. On Sunday, Barcelona visits Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium looking to equal a club record of 26 league games without a loss set in 1973-74. Also, it's: Osasuna vs. Racing Santander, Real Sociedad vs. Malaga, Espanyol vs. Deportivo La Coruna, Levante vs. Mallorca, and Villarreal vs. Sporting Gijon. Athletic Bilbao travels to Getafe on Monday to close round 28.
