Real's victory, courtesy of goals from Karim Benzema,
Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo, maintained their three-point lead over
great rivals Barcelona in second and lifted Jose Mourinho's side to 31 points
from 12 matches.
Spanish and European champions Barca widened their
advantage over Valencia, the last club other than the big two to win the title
back in 2004, to four points.
La Liga top scorer Lionel Messi struck his 15th of the season
at a damp Nou Camp, with Gerard Pique and substitute David Villa also netting
against their former club and Pique's central defensive partner Carles Puyol
scoring a rare goal.
An aggressive Valencia put Real under early pressure at
the Mestalla but a lapse in concentration allowed Benzema to open the scoring
in the 20th minute.
With the Valencia players still organizing themselves,
Xabi Alonso took a quick free kick and France striker Benzema brought the ball
under control with his first touch and struck a rasping volley past goalkeeper
Diego Alves with his second.
Valencia dominated the second half as the yellow cards
came thick and fast in response to some robust tackling before Ramos out jumped
his markers to nod home a 72nd minute second.
Home striker Roberto Soldado made it 2-1 three minutes
later with a powerful drive before Ronaldo scored his 14th of the campaign in
the 78th and Soldado poked in his second with eight minutes of regular time
left to set up a thrilling finish.
In almost the final action of the game deep into added
time, the ball appeared to strike a Real defender near his arm as he lay on the
ground by the goalline but the referee waved away Valencia's frantic appeals
for a penalty.
The irate home players surrounded the officials at the
final whistle and Mourinho was pelted with objects as he quickly made his way
down the tunnel.
In the earlier kickoff, Pique nodded Barca in front from
a Xavi free kick in the 18th minute before Messi picked up a Cesc Fabregas pass
in the penalty area shortly before halftime and sent a low, right-foot shot
past Roberto.
Captain Puyol followed up his own saved effort to score a
third some 10 minutes after the break and Villa, who replaced Fabregas in the
66th, put Barca 4-0 ahead with an acrobatic header 15 minutes from time.
In an interview with Spanish television, Pique said Barca
have a tough month ahead, including Wednesday's Champions League game at AC
Milan and the first of two 'Clasicos' against Real on Dec. 10 before they head
off to the Club World Cup in Japan.
"It's a difficult month, with a lot of important
games," he said. "Madrid is ahead in the league and we want to finish
top of our group in the Champions League but we have the quality to come
through it."
Injury-ravaged Villarreal claimed their third victory of
the campaign when Borja Valero caught Real Betis keeper Casto off his line with
a lobbed effort in the 21st minute that gave Juan Carlos Garrido's side a 1-0
home win.
Villarreal, who visit Bayern Munich in the Champions
League on Tuesday, climbed to 10th on 14 points.
Struggling Betis won their opening four matches of the
season but have taken only one point from the last eight and are 13th on 13
points, three ahead of Zaragoza in 16th.
