Madrid: A Marco Asensio-inspired Real Madrid crushed Eibar 3-0 to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points Sunday.
Asensio forced an own goal and scored the second as Real Madrid moved up to third place with 20 points, one behind second-placed Valencia and one ahead of Atletico Madrid, who beat Celta Vigo 1-0 away thanks to a Kevin Gameiro strike.
Asensio, picked ahead of France striker Karim Benzema to partner a subdued Cristiano Ronaldo up front, sparkled as Real made light work of the visiting Basque side, who are 16th at the Bernabeu here.
Paulo Oliveira headed Asensio’s cross into his own goal in the 18th minute, before the forward volleyed home the second goal 10 minutes later from Isco’s ball. Substitute Marcelo added the third in the 82nd with a low drilled effort into the far corner to finish off the drubbing.
“I‘m very happy with the goal but the most important thing was the result, it was a great game,” Marcelo told ‘Movistar’ channel. “We’ve been doing well, people (who have criticised us) forget how difficult it is to play a game in the La Liga, the best league in the world. You have to be patient.”
Zinedine Zidane made five changes from the Real side which drew 1-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions League group stage match.
Real could have scored more goals. A Casemiro thunderbolt missed the top corner by inches as waves of Real attacks shook the Basque minnows, who countered quickly but ineffectively.
Asensio fed Isco in the second half but the Spanish playmaker was denied again, while Eibar’s Takashi Inui was unfortunate not to earn a penalty when he was brought down by Casemiro.
Midway in the second session, Ronaldo missed two chances – once heading over and then shooting.
Earlier, Gameiro’s 28th minute strike earned Atletico the points in Galicia where Celta, in 10th spot, impressed but could not break down Diego Simeone’s typically rock-solid backline.
Agencies
