There was late drama at the Estadio de Gran Canaria as Real Madrid managed to wrap up the 3 points courtesy a late header by midfielder Carlos Casemiro. This was after Real Madrid led for most of the game after opening the scoring through Sergio Ramos’ 24th-minute header only for Willian Jose to score in the 87th minute to level it up. Sergio Ramos received a second booking in stoppage time to be sent off and will miss Real Madrid’s next game.
We take a look at the player ratings from the Estadio de Gran Canaria.
Las Palmas
Javi Varas – 6/10
Javi Varas was solid for his side and could hardly have done anything for both goals on the night. Made some decent saves but was helped by a misfiring Madrid forward line that often shot straight at him.
Javier Garrido – 4/10
Javier Garrido was made to sweat when players double teamed him. He was given an especially tough time by Lucas Vazquez and could’ve done better with tracking his man on more than one occasion.
David Garcia – 5/10
David Garcia did reasonably well but was helped by a non overlapping Arbeloa. Sergio Ramos made a few runs from the middle that often left Garcia in two minds.
Pedro Bigas – 5/10
Pedro Bigas had a reasonably good game as well but could have done better on a couple of occasions. He was probably glad to see Ronaldo shoot wide the few times he was made to look foolish.
Mauricio Lemos – 5/10
Mauricio Lemos didn’t have too bad a night but could have defended his man better for the second goal.
Nili – 5/10
Guilty of squandering easy chances in the second half, Nili’s movement did cause some trouble but nothing of great note.
Momo – 6/10
Momo played well on the night, setting up the goal. His movement and neat link up play was an outlet for every good move Las Palmas made.
Roque Mesa – 6/10
Roque Mesa savoured every moment of the game which was quite scrappy in its own right. However, he was guilty of letting the Real midfield overrun him too easily at times.
Angel Montorro – 6/10
Angel Montorro had a decent night. His support in midfield defensively was useful in the control Las Palmas showed later on and his overall play offensively was neat.
Willian Jose – 7/10
Willian Jose was a thorn in Real Madrid eyes for a major part of the evening as he kept creating reasonable chances and when it came to his own, he took it with both hands with a calm finish.
Jonathan Viera – 5/10
Jonathan Viera had a promising first half but found himself fading quickly in the second. Some neat exchanges aside, he did not have much of an impact on proceedings.
Substitutes
Nabil El Zhar – 4/10
Nabil El Zhar made a few decent runs but did nothing flashy otherwise.
Dani Castellano - 5/10
His runs offensively helped create more pressure on the Madrid sides.
Sergio Araujo – NA
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas - 8/10
Keylor Navas spent the entire night bailing out Pepe and Sergio Ramos who were made to look pedestrian every now and then.
Dani Carvajal – 5/10
Dani Carvajal put in a mundane performance with a few overlaps but nothing that would go on to eventually help the cause as such. He should’ve been a greater support to Lucas Vazquez who almost did everything on his own offensively.
Pepe – 5/10
Pepe struggled every now and then but had a better game than his partner defensively. His experience came to the fore when Las Palmas pushed Real late on.
Sergio Ramos - 4/10
Sergio Ramos could be accused of some atrocious defending from the offing. His powerful header opened the account for Real but aside from that he did nothing of note in the night except lose his man defensively every now and then. He got himself sent off rather weirdly late on.
Alvaro Arbeloa – 5/10
Arbeloa had his good moments and yet could’ve essentially allowed Las Palmas in twice in the first half. Apart from the mistakes in the first half, he had a decent game covering defensively but offered next to nothing going forward.
Casemiro – 7/10
There were moments in the game when Casemiro was a little too easily overrun but you couldn’t fault his effort. Picked up a caution and made a clearance when it mattered, Casemiro kind of deserved to bail Real out in the end nodding home to give Real the 3 points on the night in dramatic fashion.
Luka Modric – 7/10
Without his usual partner with him, Modric ran the show on his own and was part of everything good that Real had to offer. Modric was dynamic and his set piece delivery was as usual good.
Isco – 6/10
Isco could’ve done better despite having his moments. He was far too lackadaisical at times especially when not in possession and was rightly substituted off. However he did make Real tick in the early stages and it was his corner that Ramos slotted into the back of the net.
Lucas Vazquez – 7/10
Lucas Vazquez was excellent on the night, showing his desire every minute that he stood on the pitch. On the ball he was excellent and off the ball his movement caused much trouble for the opposite defenders. His energy and poise was crucial to most of Real’s good moments up front. He deserved more support from his partnering fullback and fellow forwards who often made a hash of his good work.
Gareth Bale – 6/10
Gareth Bale didn’t look up to speed on the night. He made a good run every now and then and looked threatening in the initial exchanges but none of his work led to anything of note. In spite of being a threat, he did spurn some good chances and will be expected to up his game hereafter.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 5/10
Cristiano had the home and away crowd on his back and many would say for good reason. It was a poor performance from the front man and he was as frustrating as only he can be. He should’ve put Real Madrid some distance ahead but spurned chances and half chances at will. Poor.
Substitutes
Mateo Kovacic – 3/10
Hardly any effective after coming on, Kovacic was in fact more useful to Las Palmas than Real on the pitch. He was partially at fault for the equalizer.
Jese – 5/10
He could hardly make much of a difference on the pitch but for a run or two which transpired to nothing considering how he had little support to bank on. He delivered an excellent corner to help Casemiro score the winner.
Marcelo – NA
