Football/Real Madrid beat Villarreal 4-1
The Real Madrid dominated Villarreal 4-1 on Sunday and temporarily finds itself alone at the top of La Liga before the closing match of the 17th round, which will pit Girona, second by one point, against Alavés on Monday evening.
The success also allows the Madrid team, with 42 points, to widen the gap with FC Barcelona (35 pts), held to a draw the day before in Valencia (1-1), and Atlético Madrid (34 pts), defeated in Bilbao (2-0).
The Madrid team did not waste time and opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a goal from Jude Bellingham, on a brilliant pass from Luka Modric. The Englishman scored his 13th goal of the season, reinforcing his position as the top scorer in the league.
Real Madrid quickly increased their lead with a goal from Rodrygo (37th minute), confirmed by VAR.
Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of the white team, had, however, lamented just before the exit due to injury of David Alaba, who reportedly suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in the 35th minute, further adding to Real Madrid’s injury concerns.
The two teams went into halftime with Real leading 2-0, but Villarreal bounced back in the second half with a goal from José Luis Morales in the 54th minute.
However, Brahim Diaz leveled the score ten minutes later (64th minute) with a beautiful series of feints that deceived the Villarreal defense and goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen.
Modric sealed the fate of the opponents with the 4th goal for Madrid less than four minutes later (68th minute) with a low shot.
Bellingham, cautioned for a foul on Ilias Akhomach, received cheers from the Bernabeu crowd when he was substituted out in the 78th minute, replaced by Dani Ceballos.
French international Aurélien Tchouaméni, returning from injury, also made his entrance, replacing a somewhat anonymous Toni Kroos since the beginning of the match.
The match became tense in the final minutes, with Etienne Capoue receiving a yellow card for a foul on Ceballos, but Real Madrid could head back to the locker rooms with the satisfaction of a job well done and a slim lead over Girona.
Pascal Amstrong
