14 March,2011 10:17 AM IST | | PA Sport
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho lauded Karim Benzema as doing "better than ever" after seeing the Frenchman continue his rich vein of goalscoring form against Hercules on Saturday night.
Benzema struck both goals in the 2-0 win at the Bernabeu to help Madrid provisionally move to within four points of Primera Division pacesetters Barcelona.
It was the third successive match in which Benzema has scored a brace and he has now struck eight times in his last six appearances, which is comfortably his best spell of form since he joined Madrid.
The 23-year-old has come under the spotlight after struggling to justify the ufffd30million Madrid paid Lyon for his services in the summer of 2009, but the France international now looks to finally be proving his worth.
The Portuguese tactician said of Benzema, who now has 19 goals in all competitions this season: "Benzema is better than ever. He is doing things he's never done before. It's very good to have Karim in these games in which our main goalscorers, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Gonzalo) Higuain, are out."
