Bale starts as Real win to go top of table
Real captain Sergio Ramos opened the scoring with a flicked header 10 minutes into the second half.
Lucas Perez equalised from the penalty spot, but Dani Carvajal bundled home from close range to earn Real the win.
Barcelona will return to the top of the table if they beat Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Real produced one of their best performances of the campaign against Paris St-Germain on Tuesday but lacked intensity at the Mendizorrotza Stadium, struggling to create clear-cut opportunities in a frustrating first half.
Bale, making his first start since suffering a calf injury at the beginning of October, had been
heavily criticised by sections of the Spanish press after posing with a 'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order' flag while on international duty earlier this month.
But the winger started brightly and went closest to breaking the deadlock before half-time, heading Isco's cross on to the post via a heavy deflection off Ximo Navarro.
Ramos eventually nodded the visitors into the lead from Toni Kroos' delivery, but the Real skipper conceded a penalty when he collided with Joselu inside the area.
Former Arsenal striker Perez sent Alphonse Areola the wrong way from the spot, but Carvajal restored Madrid's lead four minutes later after Isco's header had rebounded off the post.
The win lifts Zidane's team three points clear of second-placed Barcelona, who have played a game fewer.
I had no contact with Arsenal - Mourinho
Mourinho, 56, was reported to have met Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanllehi earlier this month as Emery's position began to come under threat.
Emery was sacked on Friday, nine days after Mourinho became Spurs boss.
"When it was written that I was in a meeting with Mr Sanllehi, it was not true," Mourinho said.With Emery then still in his position at Emirates Stadium, the Portuguese manager took over at Arsenal's arch-rivals Tottenham following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.
Former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Mourinho signed a contract with Spurs until the end of the 2022-23 season.
Argentine Pochettino has been among the names linked with replacing Emery and Mourinho says he is already looking forward to playing against Arsenal again - whoever is in charge.
Spurs will host the Gunners at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in late April.
"I look forward to playing against Arsenal. I want to play against Arsenal. I know what it means for our fans," Mourinho said.
Harden scores 60 points in Rockets win
He played just 31 minutes of the game and fell one point shy of his career-high points haul of 61 points, which he has achieved twice.
Only Wilt Chamberlain (32) and Kobe Bryant (six) have more 60-point hauls and Harden is tied with Michael Jordan.
"That's a great list right there," said Harden, who also had eight assists.
"Those guys are something that I'm trying to get to. Hopefully when it is all said and done, I can be mentioned in that group forever."Harden is also the fourth player to score 50 or more points on 20 occasions, after Chamberlain (118), Jordan (31) and Bryant (25).
Against the Hawks, he scored 13 points in the first quarter, 18 in the second and 29 in the third.
Cheptegei breaks 10km road world record
The 23-year-old broke the previous record by six seconds, which was set in 2010 by Kenya's Leonard Komon.
Uganda's Cheptegei was crowned 10,000m world champion in Doha in October, having won the 10km cross country world title in Denmark in March.
In 2018, he ran 41 minutes five seconds in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, to break the 15km road world record.
Cheptegei's average pace was two minutes and 40 seconds per kilometre in Valencia, passing through 5km in 13 minutes 24 seconds.
"What a year it has been," he said. "I can't believe it.
"I knew that Valencia was going to be a really fast course, one of the fastest in the world. So to get to achieve what we came here for is something really special."
from Bola Esho's Blog
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