Real Madrid defeated Las Palmas 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu, with goals coming from Casemiro, Asensio, and Isco. Here is a quick recap of Real Madrid’s much needed victory.
First Half
It wasn’t a perfect first half, but Real Madrid at least looked energetic and unafraid of the match. Unlike against Girona and Tottenham, where Real Madrid failed to begin the match with intensity, Madrid came out of the gates strong.
Madrid implemented an intense press that was only occasionally effective. Real Madrid hounded Las Palmas in midfield, but Las Palmas was ultimately able to pass straight through Madrid’s midfield on a number of occasions.
If it weren’t for Jesus Vallejo, who was without a doubt Real Madrid’s best defender in the first half, Los Blancos would have been in serious trouble. Vallejo, who was making his debut in the Bernabéu, saved Madrid’s blushes time after time.
Ronaldo looked impatient in the first half. While Ronaldo looked intense and dedicated, he rushed a few of his more dangerous opportunities and shot wide. His strike partner, Karim Benzema, was quite poor. Benzema tried really hard, and contributed to Madrid’s press, but his final touch was simply never there. Benzema’s finishing wasn’t good enough, and his usually sublime hold-up play looked a bit sloppy.
Another problem in the first half was the inability of Madrid to successfully play attackers in with through balls. I counted four wasted through balls in the first half. There’s no reason Real Madrid needs to be giving the ball away so easily.
Eventually, Real Madrid’s consistent pressure gave way, and Las Palmas conceded a goal. Casemiro was gifted a ball from a sloppy headed clearance on the corner, and he headed it straight into the back of the net. The first half ended 1-0, with Madrid deservedly ahead, even as they failed to truly impress.
Second half
If the first half was high-intensity, low-quality from Real Madrid, the second half began as high-intensity, high quality. Madrid seemed energized from the half-time team talk, and came out looking for blood.
It only took about ten minutes for Madrid’s attacking quality to shine through. Madrid won a free kick, and put a dangerous cross into the area. The shot was slapped out by the keeper, where it was picked up by none other than Mr. Marco Asensio, who proceeded to score this absolute thunderbastard.
That’s really great for Asensio, who’s been having a slow start to the season after impressing everyone last year.
Real Madrid added a third goal on a counter-attack. Asensio put Ronaldo through on the break, and Ronaldo found an onrushing Isco who didn’t have much to do but tap it in.
Cristiano Ronaldo remained a frustrated figure throughout much of this match. It’s not that Ronaldo played poorly. On the contrary, between his assist and his consistently dangerous attacking play, Ronaldo was one of the best players in white. But you can tell that it’s starting to bug Ronaldo at least a little bit that the goals are simply not landing for him yet.
Other thoughts:
Shoutout to Jesus Vallejo for a great first competitive performance in the Santiago Bernabéu. He displayed calm and intelligence, along with some serious pace and strength. With Varane seemingly always on the verge of an injury issue, and Ramos on the verge of a red card, it will be great to know that Vallejo is there to deputize when needed.
Benzema is going to have to do better if he wants to protect his starting place at Real Madrid. Typically Benzema does a lot of good hold-up play and off the ball work to make up for his sub-par finishing. But today, none of those qualities were on display.
Real Madrid needed a win, and needed to put on a display of some decent football to prevent the fans from completely turning on them after their back to back losses. Zidane’s team managed to grab all three points, and gave themselves a win that they can hopefully build on.
Next: Real Madrid are in must-win mode from now til the end of the season.