La Liga table topper Real Madrid walked away with all the three points against Deportivo la Coruna in a nail-biting clash at Santiago Bernabeu, thanks to another Sergio Ramos last-gasp header. Deportivo, who are languishing in the bottom half of the table, produced a stellar display, but two late goals from Mariano and Ramos thwarted them an upset win, which was very much on the cards until the 83rd minute.
Prior to the FIFA Club World Cup, Zidane rested the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo and Karim Benzema. Fans expected a Deportivo depredation by marauding Madrid, but, Joselu found the back of the net twice to tilt the match in favour of the visitors, soon after Madrid’s Morata opened the account.
The victory means Real Madrid are now six points clear of their closest rivals Barcelona.
Let’s take a look at how the players fared.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas: 7/10
Navas made an incredible save to display panther-like reaction, followed by a couple of decent saves. His positioning sense was immaculate, and he was cautious off his line. Navas was not at fault for Joselu’s thunderous strike which was Deportivo’s equalizer.
Pepe: 6/10
Pepe punched Babel in the gut, which was untoward. But, at the dying moments of the game, he played peacemaker when tempers flared. The Portuguese performed his defensive duties well and made several good tackles.
Sergio Ramos: 8/10
Umpteen times he has done it now, last-gasp 90’+ match-winning headers. His bullet header at ‘Sergio Ramos Time’ from Kroos’ corner kick earned Real the victory. With ‘Hold my drink, I got this’ kind of elegance, Ramos scored late but also defended extremely well for the most part.
Danilo: 5/10
Danilo displayed poor ball control and poor touches on the ball. He deserved to see red as he was irresponsible and unstable like a broken or damaged video game controller.
Nacho: 6/10
The left-back put in some inviting deliveries, also tracked back when required. Nacho performed well with decent attacking flair and provided the vine moment of the match as he teased Morata, getting down on his knee after the latter scored.
Toni Kroos: 7/10
Kroos powered a decent latching delivery to register the assist for the match-winning Ramos goal. The German was almost sure to get rest for the game, but Zidane played the experienced campaigner. Perfect set-piece and near perfect game for the German.
James Rodriguez: 6/10
Rodriguez got a chance to score in the first half but he bottled it. He didn’t register a goal or assist to his name but his runs were pivotal in adding impetus to the Madrid attack.
Casemiro: 5/10
After his comeback from injury, Casemiro seems more confident these days. Though he gave away the ball from which Deportivo scored the opener, he was otherwise very good. His brilliant dribble won Real a free-kick in a dangerous position.
Isco Alarcon: 6/10
Registered a fantastic assist for Morata’s opener. Isco was brilliant in the first-half but despite the assist, got a bit off-colour in the next half.
Marco Asensio: 6/10
Asensio, Isco and James playing together- sounded like a mouth-watering prospect. Asensio displayed his calibre in flashes, but was somewhat guilty of performing the same actions as Isco though.
Alvaro Morata: 7/10
Morato scored a brilliant goal from just outside the box to hand Madrid the lead in the 50th minute. Morata received the Isco ball 25 yards out and fired shot to find the back of the far corner.
Substitutes
Lucas Vazquez – 6/10
Vazquez added the much-needed pace in Madrid’s attack. Churned out a brilliant cross from the right side for Mariano Diaz’s header.
Mariano Diaz – 7/10
Diaz became a super impact sub as he equalized at the 84th minute with a fantastic looping header. Last 157 minutes in Real Shirt saw him involved with five goals.
Marcelo – 6/10
Zidane deployed Marcelo as wing-back to deliver crosses. His crossing and runs were poignant.
Deportivo la Coruna
Tyton – 6/10
Tyton made some good saves, he was not much at fault with the Madrid goals. He even carried on playing despite getting injured.
Sidnei – 7/10
Sidnei dealt very well with the threats of Morata and Vazquez. He was physically strong and epitomised a commanding presence at the back.
Raul Albentosa – 6/10
Albentosa showed exceptional aerial defending. The crucial clearances with his head saved his team from various threatening situations.
Fernando Navarro – 6/10
The fullback churned out assured defending but offered almost zero in the build up play. Navarro kept Danilo quiet throughout the match.
Juanfran – 5/10
It was a below par performance from Juanfran. Had it not been Albentosa to the rescue, tougher times were waiting for him as he was shaky. He was nowhere as good as his Atletico Madrid namesake.
Guilherme Torres– 6/10
Guilherme almost scored in the first half. He showed good work rate over the course of the match.
Celso Borges – 7/10
Borges was the key man in the midfield battle with Madrid. His header thumped off the woodwork to deny him a well-deserved goal.
Carles Gil – 6/10
Gil furnished an assist to a Joselu goal. He was decent on the counter attacks as well.
Emre Colak – 5/10
Casemiro pocketed him as he was largely ineffective in the middle of the park. Colak had a pretty below average game.
Ryan Babel – 7/10
The forward came up with a decent performance. The Dutch was an attacking threat throughout the match, he made good runs to add attacking impetus.
Florin Andone – 6/10
Andone toiled hard but eventually, Pepe outpaced him. His runs and movements were into good spaces .
Substitutes
Joselu – 8/10
The super sub scored twice within the space of two minutes (at 63’ and 65’) to earn his side the lead. The former Real Madrid academy player became the first player to score 2 or more goals in a La Liga match against Real Madrid since November 2015. Of the two fantastic goals he scored, especially the first one was picturesque.
Pedro Mosquera – 4/10
Mosquera couldn’t influence the midfield. He needs to take his chances well in the first team to cement his place.
Faycal Fajr – 5/10
The winger offered nothing in the attack. How much tactical reason was behind this substitution, is dubious.
