(REUTERS) - Karim Benzema netted a second-half hat-trick as Real Madrid got back to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday (April 21).
The Frenchman increased his tally to 21 league goals this season - the first time he has achieved the total since 2015 - and now has 10 goals in his last seven appearances for the club.
Victory left Real, who had drawn with Leganes in their last outing, in third place on 64 points. They are 13 points behind leaders Barcelona and four behind city rivals Atletico.
Zinedine Zidane once again left Gareth Bale on the bench, with Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio supporting Benzema in attack.
They initially cut frustrated figures throughout an opening period of few chances, with the Bernabeu crowd voicing their frustration.
However, the fans were soon serenading Benzema two minutes after the break when he opened the scoring.
Jesus Vallejo produced a brilliant last-ditch tackle on Inaki Williams and Real sprung a trademark counter attack, with Asensio leading the charge before centring for Benzema to nod in.
He doubled his tally 15 minutes from the end, heading in Luka Modric's corner after a calamitous misjudgement from Bilbao goalkeeper Iago Herrerin.
Substitute Brahim Diaz went close for the home side in the closing stages before Bale chipped a one-on-one over the bar.
The Welshman made amends moments later, latching onto another error from Herrerin, who had rushed out of his box in an attempt to clear the through ball.
His weak header dropped at the feet of Bale, who teed up Benzema to complete his hat-trick by firing into an empty net.
Bilbao have 46 points and stay seventh, six points behind Sevilla who are in the final Europa League spot.
In the later game, a brilliant double from Goncalo Guedes saw Valencia move into fifth place, as they recorded an impressive 2-1 victory at Real Betis to be in closer contention for the fourth and final Champions League place.
Guedes struck almost identical efforts from outside the box either side of half-time to move Marcelino's side to 52 points, leapfrogging Betis's local rivals Sevilla in the process on goal difference.
Getafe, who earlier on Sunday beat Sevilla 3-0, currently occupy fourth place with 54 points.
Valencia, who have lost just one of their last 22 games in all competitions and have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League and Copa del Rey, were good value for the victory even though they ended with 10 men after the dismissal of Rodrigo.
Teenage sensation Moise Kean scored the winner to put Juventus one step away from an eighth consecutive Serie A title on Saturday as a 2-1 comeback win over AC Milan pushed the champions 21 points
Serie A Recap: Kean's goal puts Juventus on brink of league
Javier Tebas was linked with a move to Serie A in 2018. La Liga is unaware of any interest from the Premier League in hiring their president, Javier Tebas, but described reports linking him to the
La Liga 'pride' at Javier Tebas links to Premier League role
There's no doubt," Pochettino said. "There's no doubt that Hugo is one of the best and he's going to be in the goal. "It's a situation that is so painful because I think we deserved more (at Liverpool), but in that kind of situation, which happens in football, it's only to be strong and back our player.
Pochettino gives backing to under-fire Lloris | theScore.com
Premier League: Liverpool extend lead at top, Arsenal slip up
Manchester United sacked Jose Mourinho as manager on Tuesday morning and are expected to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as caretaker boss for the remainder of the season. The Premier League giants
Manchester United set to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as
Lionel Messi scores La Liga-clinching goal for Barcelona off the bench in win over Levante The league crown once again resides at Camp Nou. by Roger Gonzalez
Football: 'Stratospheric' Messi scores 400th La Liga goal in
If you only want to watch Cubs games, it costs $91.99 for the season. Once signed up, you can watch games on your computer via the MLB.com website, or you can can watch on your phone, tablet or
Chicago Cubs - Live Stream & MLB TV Schedule (2019)
Pogba spot kicks help United 'get away with it' LONDON • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted Manchester United "got away with it" after West Ham, 2-1 losers to a pair of Paul Pogba penalties, were on the end of a series of questionable officiating decisions.
Latest OLE GUNNAR SOLKSJAER | The Straits Times
Jun 02, 2019 · Brazilian football star Neymar accused of raping woman in Paris hotel according to a police document in Brazil. "All evidence of attempted extortion and non-rape will be submitted to the
Barcelona put one hand on La Liga title after edging past Sociedad Barca lead the standings on 77 points after 33 games, comfortably clear of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid who won 1-0 at
Barca put one hand on title after edging past Sociedad
"I'm not happy to play the second role. That's why I said next year I will need to have a more important role to play in the team." When asked whether he has already had offers to go elsewhere, Giroud added: "Yes but I won't reveal that now. The priority is Chelsea.
Giroud demands important role at Chelsea next season
REUTERS: Liverpool will be without forwards Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino when they face Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final as they look to overturn a 3-0 deficit
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino ruled out of
Record 3.57 billion watch FIFA World Cup 2018, 1.12 billion tune in for France vs Croatia final The report further stated that the total viewership included 309.7 million people who followed matches through digital platforms. 231.82 million out of home and digital viewers tuned in for the final.
More than half the world watched record-breaking - fifa.com
N'Golo Kante earned Chelsea a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace to boost the Blues' bid for a place in the Premier League's top four. Kante, a World Cup winner with France last summer, has been deployed in a more advanced position on the right side of midfield by Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea. He netted
Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea: Lone N'Golo Kante strike secures
Italian legend named new coach of China. Italian World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro was named coach of China on Friday, spearheading the ambitious country's attempts to become a
Italian legend Cannavaro named new coach of China | Free
0 comments:
Post a Comment