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Malaga (Diego Rolan 90+3') 1-2 Real Madrid (Isco 29', Casemiro 63')
Real Madrid beat Malaga 2-1 at the La Rosaleda to leapfrog Valencia back into third on the La Liga table. The big guns were missing from the Real lineup but that proved to be no issue as Isco broke the deadlock right before the half-hour mark.
Casemiro scored the second goal of the night following a beautiful build-up play. Diego Rolan scored a late goal for the home team but it proved to be only a consolation.
The win helps Los Blancos climb up to 67 points, four behind Atletico Madrid whereas, for Malaga, relegation looks imminent as they rooted at the bottom of the table with 17 points and only six games to play.
Here are the player ratings:
Malaga
Roberto - 6/10
Roberto barely had a chance of saving Isco's free kick from going into the bottom corner. He made some good saves to restrict Zidane's men to only two goals.
Ignasi Miquel - 6/10
The former Arsenal youth product did a good job defensively against Marco Asensio especially and made a total of two interceptions before coming off in the 70th minute.
Miguel Torres - 6/10
The veteran Spanish defender did a great job of clearing the ball out of danger when needed, making a total of five clearances.
Federico Ricca - 6/10
The left-back did his job defensively against Lucas Vazquez and other Real Madrid attackers, not allowing them much room or freedom as he accumulated two interceptions and clearances respectively.
Roberto Rosales - 7/10
Rosales was the workhorse for the Andalusians. He had his presence on both the halves of the pitch throughout the game, putting his body on the line making tackles and blocks as well as putting in crosses, long balls and taking set pieces too.
Adrián - 6/10
Adrian proved to be one of Malaga's best midfield players on the night, as he was there in the right place proving the required defensive cover.
Manuel Iturra - 6/10
Iturra was reckless when it came to putting in challenges, as he committed five fouls which duly earned him a yellow card.
Mehdi Lacen - 5/10
Except for putting in three successful long balls, the Algerian midfielder was literally invisible in the attacking third before being taken off in the 52nd minute.
Brown Ideye - 4/10
The Nigerian had a poor work rate contributing nothing going forward and was dispossessed twice as well as being caught offside once.
Chory Castro - 6/10
Castro was influential down the left wing putting in the crosses, winning aerial duels and also created two chances on his own.
Diego Rolan - 7/10
Rolan ended up doing more defensive duty than offensive work as he tracked back to help out in defense, making a total of two clearances. The Uruguayan pulled a goal back but it was too late since it was the last kick of the game.
Substitutes
Alberto Bueno - 6/10
Bueno proved to be the difference maker after coming on and provided the much-needed spark in attack for Malaga.
Iván Rodríguez - N/A
Replaced Ignasi Miquel in the 70th minute.
Maxime Lestienne - N/A
Came on for Brown Ideye in the 78th minute.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas - 6/10
The Costa Rican made a good call of coming off his line to deny Malaga their goal following an error from Casemiro.
Dani Carvajal - 6/10
Carvajal had a fairly decent game and was lucky not to receive a yellow card despite making three fouls.
Sergio Ramos - 7/10
Ramos put in 11 successful long balls and had a glorious chance of scoring himself when he popped up in the box following a Real Madrid counter-attack but his first touch let him down.
Jesús Vallejo - 6/10
Vallejo's error towards the closing stages due to his bad judgment of the ball, led to Rolan scoring for Malaga and Real Madrid losing their clean sheet.
Theo Hernández - 7/10
Hernandez got a rare start and did well, filling in for Marcelo putting in two successful crosses finishing the game off with a pass completion rate of 91%.
Isco - 9/10
The former Malaga man scored a sublime free kick lifting the ball over the five-man wall with a change in direction that led to the ball ending up in the bottom right corner.
Isco was given a free role in which he thrived, putting an all-round performance popping up in different areas of the attacking third and also got the assist for the second goal.
Casemiro - 7/10
Started Real's attack after recovering the ball and scored the second goal of the game killing Malaga's minor chances of making some sort of a comeback.
Mateo Kovacic - 6/10
Defensively, Kovacic made four successful tackles and also had two attempts at goal but was dispossessed on four different occasions.
Marco Asensio - 6/10
Asensio had a quiet game as he did not have much of an influence or contribution in Real Madrid's attacks and also misplaced some passes
Karim Benzema - 7/10
The Frenchman created numerous chances for himself and as usual, his participation in the Real Madrid attacking build-up plays was pinpoint and was one the key elements that led to Real's second goal.
Lucas Vázquez - 6/10
Vazquez did his job efficiently as per the needs of the manager putting in a satisfactory performance.
Substitutes
Dani Ceballos - N/A
Replaced Marco Asensio in the 66th minute.
Borja Mayoral - N/A
Took the place of Isco in the 71st minute.
