Real Madrid went into match day 28 trailing Barcelona by 4 points. A win would really help keep the pressure on the Catalan side. They faced 17th placed Elche who sit only 1 point away from the drop zone and had been winless in their last 5 games. Elche had never won against Real Madrid in their history. Once again Thiago Pitarch started for Los Blancos after an impressive display against Manchester City midweek.
The first half was a very cagey affair with neither team really getting chances. Elche striker Andre Silva got the closest with a near post header that went wide. However, at the 39th minute Real Madrid came to life. Vinicius Jr laid off his free kick to Valverde who stung the Dituro’s gloves. However, the ball stayed loose in the box where Rudiger reacted first and smashed the ball into the back of the net. Soon after Real Madrid would find another. Midweek hero Valverde received the ball on the edge of the box from Fran García. He expertly chopped the ball onto his right foot and blasted it into the top right hand corner.
At the second half, Real Madrid picked up where they left off. Brahim Diaz had a huge chance as he worked brilliantly to get in on goal. However, his effort completely cleared the crossbar. Arbeloa saw this game as an opportunity to sub on many Castilla graduates to gain some experience. One of these players Daniel Yañez would whip in a killer cross onto the head of Dean Huijsen who headed it home for the third goal. Unfortunately, Castilla graduate Manuel Angel would concede an unlucky own goal as the ball was deflected off him into his own net. However, the goal of the game (and potentially the season) came from Arda Guler. He saw Dituro off his line and lobbed him from his own half. A goal that gave me flashbacks to David Beckham’s goal against Wimbledon many moons ago.
In the end, it was business as usual for Real Madrid. They keep the pressure on their fierce rivals Barcelona. My Player of the Match goes to Arda Guler for scoring the best goal I have ever seen live.
