The midweek brought La Liga again in front of the public and for Real Madrid it was a night of celebraton. It was the first out of two consecutive home games for Ancelotti’s men and they took the best of it. Not only they dominated the game but also played a great and entertaining football. Real sits alone at the top of the table and with the next match against Villarreal that will be played in Madrid as well, the White Team will have the best chance to keep this positive run and why not make the difference even bigger with the second place.
In contrast to the last few matches where Benzema and Vinicius have been the key players in the team’s performances, this time it was Marco Asensio who stole the show. Asensio became the star of the night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu as he set the newly opened stadium alight with a wonderous hat-trick against his former team RCD Mallorca. He played in the midfield mostly but that did not stop him from staying close to the net and scoring.
So, Real Madrid cruised to another victory to continue their unbeaten run since the start of the season. Carlo Ancelotti’s side moved back to the top of the league standings after a convincing win over Mallorca as the Santiago Bernabéu faithful were treated to a second consecutive goal feast. The game was a lively affair and was played at a high intensity throughout. The Whites got off to an electrifying start when Karim Benzema latched onto a missed controlled ball by Gayá and fired the ball past Reina to net his seventh goal of the league campaign after with just three minutes on the clock. In the 7th minute, the hosts almost doubled their lead when Marco Asensio’s in-swinging corner kick was cleared off the line by the defence.
On 24’, the visiting goalkeeper was once again beaten. This time Rodrygo picked up the ball inside the box with his back to goal, swivelled and crossed. The ball deflected off both Valjant and Reina falling kindly to Asensio who slammed in the rebound for his first goal of the evening to make it 2-0. Mallorca’s response was immediate, as Kang In Lee produced a fine piece of individual skill before curling the ball superbly past thibaut Courtois.
The game was an end-to-end affair, Benzema linked up with Asensio after 29 minutes, his superb control and finish saw him dispatch the ball expertly past Reina. The Balearic midfielder doubled his tally and could have made it three seven minutes later. Vinicius Jr. delivered to the far post, Benzema got on the end of it and headed towards the penalty spot where Valjant was on hand to clear Asensio's effort off the line.
The intensity did not let up after the break and Real Madrid came close to a fourth goal on two separate occasions. Firstly, Benzema played the ball into the path of Vinicius Jr but his spectacular left-footed cut-back to his marker in the 48th minute was kept out by Reina. Rodrygo then picked up the ball in his own half, raced past Battaglia, and delivered a perfect ball for Benzema to head home. The goal was ruled out by Alberola Rojas after he spotted a foul by the striker.
Asensio's hat-trick: The fourth goal came in the 55th minute courtesy of a superb Asensio, receiving the ball on the edge of the area before firing in a left-footed shot that Reina could do nothing about. Real Madrid got the fifth goal in the 78th minute as Benzema brought down a long ball from David Alaba with his back and finished with a shot across the face of goal. Eight goals in the competition for the Frenchman, moving ahead of the rest as top scorer. There was still more to see when in the 84th minute, Isco added the finishing touches after a pass from Vinicius Jr.
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