Jude Bellingham scored his 17th goal of the season in Real Madrid’s crucial 4-1 win over Villarreal in La Liga.
The England superstar opened the scoring for Madrid before goals from goals from Rodrygo Goes, Brahim Diaz and Luka Modric secured the three points at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid’s win sees them go top of the La Liga table once again, with Girona set to face off against Deportivo Alaves on Monday evening.
How the game unfolded
As expected, Real Madrid dominated the opening exchanges of the game at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the midfield of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde expertly dictating the tempo of the game.
It would be the former of the trio who’d create the first opening of the game for Los Blancos in the 25th minute – an opening that would result in a goal for the home side. Modric’s first time dinked cross into the back post area was brilliantly met by Jude Bellingham (who else?), and the England star made no mistake with his subsequent header – thumping it into the far right corner of the net.
12 minutes later, it was 2-0. The second goal was scored by the in-form Rodrygo Goes, who latched on to a loose ball in the Villarreal box to side-foot home his ninth goal in his last 11 appearances.
Madrid had been cruising in the game, controlling possession with relative ease, up until the 54th minute when Jose Morales raced onto a Dani Parejo and then fired under the body of Andriy Lunin and into the back of the net.
That goal woke Real Madrid up a bit and, ten minutes later, Brahim Diaz restored his side’s two goal lead with a stunning goal. The diminutive forward oscillated past Aissa Mandi on the half-way line before racing into the penalty box where, with a quick drop of the shoulder, he slipped past Raul Albiol and then fired brilliantly into the back of the net.
Soon after, it was 4-1. Luka Modric bagged his first goal of the season in the 68th minute, coolly side-footing into the bottom left corner from the right-hand side of the penalty area.
GK: Andriy Lunin – 5/10 – Perhaps should’ve done better with the goal he conceded.
RB: Lucas Vazquez – 7/10 – Notched an assist and performed very well while deputising for the injured Dani Carvajal.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – 6/10 – The German international had very little to do in the defensive third.
CB: David Alaba – N/A – Suffered what looked like a serious injury early in the game.
LB: Ferland Mendy – 4/10 – Hooked at half-time after a rather tepid opening 45 on the left flank.
CM: Federico Valverde – 6/10 – Worked his socks off in a deeper role.
CM: Toni Kroos – 6/10 – Tidy as ever on the ball, completing 94% of his passes on the night.
CM: Luka Modric – 8/10 – Bagged his first goal of the 2023/24 season and also chipped in with an assist in a typically brilliant performance.
AM: Brahim Diaz – 8/10 – Scored a stunning solo goal, beating two defenders on his way to his fourth of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu.
ST: Rodrygo Goes – 7/10 – After a difficult start to the season, Rodrygo has been on fire in recent weeks, bagging yet another goal in the win on Sunday.
ST: Jude Bellingham – 8/10 – Of course he scored. This time is was a stunning header which gave Madrid the lead early in the first half. There’s no one better in the world right now.
Substitutes
SUB: Nacho Fernandez (35′ for Alaba) – 6/10
SUB: Fran Garcia (45′ for Mendy) – 6/10
SUB: Dani Ceballos (78′ for Toni Kroos) – 6/10
SUB: Aurelien Tchouameni (78′ for Bellingham) – 6/10
SUB: Joselu (84′ for Brahim) – N/A
Manager – Carlo Ancelotti – 7/10 – Trusted Brahim Diaz instead of Joselu on Sunday, and his decision more than paid off. He’s getting the absolute best out of his small squad of fit players right now.
Player of the match: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
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