XtraTime Web Desk: Real Madrid kept the pressure on arch rivals Barcelona in top of the table clash in La Liga. The Los Blancos registered a convincing 3-1 win against Eibar at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Sunday. Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo put their names on the scoresheet for the home team. The win took Real Madrid to 59 points from 28 matches, two points clear of league leaders Barcelona.
Zinedine Zidane’s side started on a brilliant pace coming back from the forced break for almost three months due to COVID-19. Toni Kroos found the back of the net as early in the 4th minute of the match.
The German striker made no mistake off a perfect pass from Karim Benzema. Real footballers kept the pressure on the opponents by keeping the ball possession among them. As a result of which they had another opportunity to extend the lead in the 30th minute. Ramos intercepted a pass and played left to Benzema, who picked out Eden Hazard on the right and, with just Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic to beat, the Belgian crossed to the following Ramos, who made it 2-0. It was Hazard and Benzema combining well again that opened the door for the third goal for Real Madrid. An attempted clear from an Eibar defender found Ramos who made no mistake in shooting it home to make it 3-0 for Real in the 37th minute. The Brazilian took a knee after scoring in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Both teams went into the breather with the score reading 3-0 in favour of the home team.
Zidane bought in Ferland Mendy in place of Dani Carvajal at the start of the second half. All of a sudden the home team looked flat on the pitch, giving some testing time for Thibaut Courtois in the Real goal.
Eibar were keen to take advantage of Real Madrid’s lull and they pulled a goal back due to the defensive lapses of Madrid. Pedro Bigas got the ball in the open space off a deflection from teammate Pablo de Blasis and he made no mistake to score in the 60th minute. Conceding a goal, Zidane immediately made three changes by bringing in Gareth Bale, Eder Militao and Vinicius for Rodrygo, Ramos and Hazard in the 61st minute. But those changes did not lift the performance of the home side as the scoresheet remained the same 3-1.
Results of other La Liga matches on Sunday (June 14, 2020)
Atletico Bilbao 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad 1-1 Osasuna