This Saturday, the Real Madrid received and won the Espanyol 3-1 for the 25th round of the Spanish Championship. Joselu opened the scoring for the visitors and the Brazilians Vinícius Jr. and Éder Militão turned the game around for the meringues. Marco Asensio, in second-half stoppage time, closed the scoring.
In this game, Real Madrid did not have striker Benzema, who is injured. To make up for his absence, the Brazilian Rodrygo played more centrally.
With the triumph, Real Madrid reaches 56 points, remains isolated in the vice-leadership of La Liga and is six points behind leader Barcelona, who have not yet played in the round. Espanyol, on the other hand, has 27 points and is in 13th place, and could fall in the table in this round. The club is just two points away from the relegation zone, which starts at Almeria, 18th.
Real Madrid’s next game is this Wednesday, at 5 pm (Brasília time), against Liverpool in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. Espanyol is back on the field to receive Celta de Vigo on Saturday, at 2:30 pm, for the Spanish Championship.
The game
Real Madrid struggled to get close to the rival’s area at the beginning of the game and saw the opponent take a lot of danger on the counterattacks. At eight minutes, Joselu opened the scoring for Espanyol precisely in a beautiful counterattack set up by the team. Playing behind the scoreboard, the meringues still suffered in the first half, but controlled possession and eventually reached the tie. At 22, Vinícius Jr. left everything the same after a beautiful individual play by the Brazilian striker.
After the first goal, Real Madrid improved and began to dominate the match. In the 39th minute of the opening stage, Éder Militão turned the game with a header after a beautiful cross by Frenchman Tchouaméni.
The second half was more peaceful for Real, who dominated the actions on the field and could have scored the third goal earlier. One of the best chances was for Rodrygo, who stamped the opposing crossbar with a free kick. Already in the additions, Marco Asensio settled the invoice and, finally, scored the third of the meringues.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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