Second-half goals from Ruben De La Red and Ruud van Nistelrooy gave Real Madrid victory at Racing Santander on Sunday and saw Bernd Schuster's side move to within a point of the Primera Liga leaders.

Following an indifferent first-half performance, De La Red put Madrid into the lead eight minutes after the restart and Van Nistelrooy netted his side's second with 17 minutes remaining to ensure a comfortable win for the champions.

Madrid came into the game under pressure following an indifferent start to the campaign.

Schuster's side lost at Deportivo La Coruna on the opening weekend of the season and were far from convincing in a 4-3 win at home to promoted side Numancia last Saturday.

A 2-0 home success against Belorussian minnows BATE Barisov in the Champions League on Wednesday also failed to silence the critics, but Madrid looked better here.

Gonzalo Higuain almost set up Raul after 10 minutes, but Racing cleared before the Real captain could get a shot in.

And De La Red - a surprise inclusion on the left of midfield - forced Tono into a fine save with a fierce low drive nine minutes later.

The Spain midfielder also saw a long-range effort deflected behind after 32 minutes.

But Madrid switched off at the back as half-time approached and needed a pair of heroic saves from keeper Iker Casillas to deny Jonathan Pereira.

Guti was forced off with an injury just before the break and was replaced by summer signing Rafael van der Vaart.

But it was De La Red who made the breakthrough eight minutes after the interval.

Higuain charged forward on a quick counter-attack and released the former Getafe loanee, who swept the ball home from close-range to give the visitors an important lead.

But Schuster's side struggled to build on that advantage as Racing looked for a way back into the game.

And Mohamed Tchite almost provided a lifeline for the northerners after 69 minutes, but was just off target with his header.

Four minutes later, though, the match was effectively over as a contest as Van Nistelrooy bagged his side's second after evading a couple of challenges and slotting home just inside the post.

It was a typically clinical finish from the Dutchman and gave Madrid an important cushion for the remainder of the match.

Their advantage came under threat after 77 minutes but Tchite's header was cleared off the line by Van der Vaart.

De La Red fired over four minutes from time and Gonzalo Colsa was off target with a free-kick at the other end as the game finished with a flourish.

The points went to Madrid, who moved up to sixth place, where they sit just one point below joint leaders Valencia, Almeria, Villarreal and Espanyol.

Racing, meanwhile, sit just above the drop zone with two points from their three matches.