Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was pleased with victory at Alaves.

A rare goal from Dani Carvajal proved enough to lead Real Madrid past Deportivo Alaves, 1-2, on a very rainy Saturday afternoon at the Estadio Mendizorrotza.

After a scoreless first half, Sergio Ramos gave Los Blancos the lead with a header, but the hosts answered through Lucas Perez via the penalty spot. But Madrid would have the last say as some good work from Isco allowed Carvajal to score the winner in a soggy slugfest in the Basque Country.

Zidane said afterwards, "I'm really pleased for the players because they kept believing right until the end and it was important for us to win a game like today's, on a tough pitch and against a side that have been performing very well. We had to dig in and we showed that we were capable of doing so and coming away with a good result.

"It's three vital points, particularly when you look at how the game went: we got the first goal, they drew level and we knew we'd have to dig in, but we kept our heads and knew that we could get a second, and we did just that. They're tough away games because the fans get behind the players and even more so today when you factor the weather in. We know that it's a long season, but we'll be battling for the LaLiga title right until the end."