The La Liga champions continued their perfect league record with a hard-fought win over Espanyol.
Real Madrid defeated Espanyol 3-1 in their La Liga game on Sunday. The Blancos claimed a crucial win to remain at the top of the La Liga table.
Benzema to rescue!
Real Madrid started the game by pushing for an early breakthrough against their opponents.
Following a brilliant piece of build-up play, Vinicius Junior put the Blancos ahead in the 12th minute.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side seemed to be on their way to an easy win as they created several chances to double their lead.
However, it was Espanyol who scored the equalizer two minutes before halftime.
Real Madrid started their efforts to restore the lead as soon as the second period started. However, they had to wait for another 43 minutes to find the back of the net again.
Espanyol held on to their defensive integrity, but a brilliant cross from Rodrygo changed the course of the game. Benzema nodded the ball from close range to win the match for the guests.
Espanyol pushed to score their second equalizer of the night during the extra time.
However, their efforts only resulted in Real Madrid’s third goal after the referee sent off Benjamin Lecomte for a challenge on Dani Ceballos inside the box.
Benzema stepped up to complete his brace by converting the penalty as Real Madrid celebrated their third victory of the new season.
Player Ratings
Espanyol: Lecomte (5); Óscar (6), Calero (7), Cabrera (6), Oliván (5); Vinicius Souza (6), Edu Expósito (7), Darder (7); Javi (6), Rubén Sánchez (6); Joselu (7).
Bench: Melamed (6), Bare (6), Gomez (5).
Real Madrid: Courtois (7); Vazquez (5), Militao (7), Rudiger (6), Alaba (6); Tchouameni (7), Kroos (6), Modric (6); Valverde (6), Vinicius (7); Benzema (8).
Bench: Carvajal (6), Camavinga (6), Ceballos (7), Rodrygo (7).
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