Date: 10th January 2015
Venue: Santiago Benabeu
Score: Real Madrid 3-0 Espanyol
Scorers: James 11’, Bale 29’, Nacho 76’
Yellow Cards: Ronaldo 52’, Victor 57’, Arbilla 70’
Red Cards: Coentrao 52’
Match Report:
After losing two official matches (and a friendly against AC Milan) and effectively ending their 22 match winning streak, Real Madrid have finally gained some redemption against Espanyol. Madrid started off fast and furious on their feet leaving the two banks of 4 of Espanyol behind them. This was one of the reasons why the first goal came quick and ruthless by James Rodriguez.
The second goal was a marvelous free kick taken by Gareth Bale as he curved the ball into the net in spectacular fashion. Espanyol were still lagging behind when the first half ended and their performance was way below average when the second half started. Varane and Pepe in the back had little to do in the start when Espanyol were not contributing anything in the game but soon enough came the attempts bringing in two amazing saves from Iker Casillas.
Coentrao was sent off in the 52nd minute and Ronaldo got booked for arguing against the matter. Nevertheless, the game went on and before you knew it Nacho scored his first ever goal for Real Madrid. The youngster made it 3-0 for the Spanish giants making it the first win for them in 2015 and as Gareth Bale suggested on his social media last night, brought them back to their “winning ways”.
Lineups:
Real Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Varane, Pepe, Coentrao; Kroos (Khedira 80’), James (Nacho 53’), Isco; Bale, Benzema (Illaramendi 61’), Cristiano Ronaldo.
Espanyol: Casilla; Arbilla, Colotto, Alvaro, Fuentes; Cañas, Victor, Joan Jordan (Stuani 61’), Montañes; Garcia (Abraham 80’), Caicedo.