Karim Benzema’s controversial late penalty and another goal at Estadio Jose Zorilla helped Real Madrid restart LaLiga Santander with a 2-0 victory over Valladolid.
In spite of expectations that Real Madrid would have an easy day, Los Blancos once again had to rely on Thibaut Courtois to make the stops at one end and a little bit of luck at the other to win.
Benzema missed a golden chance to give Madrid the lead. The Frenchman received the ball on the edge of the six-yard box, but his left-footed shot went far over the crossbar.
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Courtois was called into action in 35th minute.
The Belgian tipped Roque Mesa’s attempt from outside the box over the crossbar.
In the second half, Courtois once more rescued the day for Madrid after Sergio Leon appeared to have scored with a header from a corner in 67th minute, but Courtois produced an even better save than he did in the first half to prevent a goal.
The breakthrough finally occurred at 82nd minute when Javi Sanchez accidently handled Antonio Rudiger’s header.
The spot kick was eventually given after VAR prompted the referee to check the monitor after initially failing to declare it.
Following a lackluster showing, Benzema stepped up and scored to save Los Blancos.
The icing on the cake came when Benzema took advantage of Vinicius’ excellent effort down the left before he blasted home past Jordi Masip.
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Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press after Real Madrid’s victory over Valladolid.
“It was a tough game against a side that grew into the game. We did well in the first half, controlling the game.
“Valladolid performed well and made it a competitive game.”
“The team wasn’t solid enough, but we came away with three points from this difficult game.”
“Both Courtois and Benzema put in a great performance, and Benzema was amongst the goals once again.”
“An unforgettable year is coming to an end in style. We have to keep moving forward slowly to get all the players back to good shape.”
“Courtois and Benzema were key, as well as the work of the whole team. Hazard will play in the next game. This was useful for Benzema.”
“I looked at it before this game, I knew he could be important today and he was.”
“He’s motivated and full of confidence. We’re going to see a different Karim in the second half of the season than in the first half.”
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