Karim Benzema scored in the final minute of the match to snatch
all three points for Real Madrid as they edged out bottom side Huesca 3-2 at the
Bernabeu on Sunday evening.
Los Blancos were heading towards another embarrassing result on
home soil until their French striker curled the ball home to deny Huesca a huge
point in their fight for survival.
The visitors put up
a brave fight in the Spanish capital, taking a shock lead through Juan Camilo
Hernandez early on and then battling back to 2-2 after Isco and Dani Ceballos
had turned the game on its head.
It was not to be in
the end, however, as Real made it two wins from two under returning boss
Zinedine Zidane to move back to within two points of second-placed Atletico
Madrid.
On their first
visit to the Bernabeu, it took the visitors less than three minutes to open the
scoring as Ezequiel Avila won back the ball from Nacho on the right and picked
out Hernandez, whose sweeping first-time finish was past Luca Zidane before the
goalkeeper could react.
All Real could
offer in response over the next 15 minutes was a couple of shots from Benzema,
one forcing Roberto Santamaria into a routine save and the other flying wide.
Real managed to get
back on level terms through Isco’s second goal since Zidane returned, following
up his strike in the 2-0 win against Celta Vigo two weeks ago with a simple
close-range finish here.
Benzema carried the
ball forward and exchanged passes with Brahim Diaz, before getting a shot away
that Santamaria could only push as far as Isco.
The home side took
control of possession for the rest of the first half, but the closest either
team came to a second goal before the interval was Huesca through Avila.
The Argentinian
attacker trapped the ball with his first touch but rocketed it over the
crossbar from a good position with his second.
Real’s players left
the field to jeers at the end of the first half, and they continued into the
second when Gareth Bale – the player most strongly targeted by those in the
stands – fired a free kick high and wide.
Benzema tested
Santamaria for a second time with his shot towards the bottom corner and, with
a little over an hour played, Los Blancos had a lead to hold on to.
Bale’s sublime
outside-of-the-boot cross was headed across goal by Benzema and Ceballos, who
started the attack from deep, chucked himself at it near the back post to get
on the scoresheet.
Both teams came
close soon after as Yangel Herrera fizzed one wide and Bale, having played a
big part in his side’s second goal, somehow guided Alvaro Odriozola’s cross
over the crossbar at full stretch from four yards out.
For a short while
that looked to be a costly miss as Huesca skipper Xabier peeled away from Nacho
to guide Gomez’s short corner into the bottom corner of the net.
Apart from a tame attempt
from Lucas Vazquez, Real did not offer a great deal between Huesca’s leveller
and Benzema’s eventual winner, with the Frenchman using a couple of players as
a wall to curl the ball into the bottom corner.
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