Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-1 at Santiago Bernabeu, with goals coming from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lucas Vazquez. Ronaldo missed a penalty in the first half, but scored from another penalty in the 41st minute.
Bruma equalized for Real Sociedad just after the break, but Ronaldo gave Real Madrid the lead again in the 66th minute from a sublime volley. Lucas Vazquez added a third in the 85th minute for the home side. We take a look at the individual player ratings from the game at Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas – 7/10
Keylor Navas did well to come out of his line to deny Agirretxe in the first half, but conceded from Bruma’s brilliant shot in the second half. He wasn’t tested much by the Real Sociedad attack.
Danilo – 7/10
Danilo came up with a good performance as he was strong defensively making 6 tackles in the game, and was also given a lot of space while attacking. Though the Brazilian defender was caught out of position few times.
Pepe – 7/10
Pepe had a good game too, as he was strong aerially and made few great tackles. He could have done better to stop Jonathas, who assisted Bruma, but overall he had a good game at the back. He did well to block Yuri’s dangerous shot in the first half.
Nacho – 6/10
Nacho made a very poor tackle in the second half for which he was booked, he struggled sometimes and luckily for him Real Sociedad didn’t do enough to punish him.
Marcelo – 7/10
Marcelo made a brilliant pass in the second half for Ronaldo’s goal, and was heavily involved in the game. He was solid defensively, and contributed a lot going forward.
Toni Kroos – 7/10
Toni Kroos did well to control the game from midfield, and looked in good touch. He looked calm and composed on the ball, and distributed the ball well.
Luka Modric – 6/10
Luka Modric didn’t have a major impact on the game, but just did his job well. He came close to scoring in the first half, but his long distance show was straight to Rulli.
James Rodriguez – 6/10
James Rodriguez once again played in a three man midfield, but struggled to create chances for his teammates. He was substituted in the 59th minue for Mateo Kovacic.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 8/10
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in the first half, but scored from the second penalty. He then scored an exquisite volley in the second half to give Real Madrid the lead.
Karim Benzema – 7/10
Karim Benzema won the penalty in the first half, which Ronaldo missed, and caused problems for the Real Sociedad defense. He looked in good form, but unlucky not to be on the scoresheet.
Gareth Bale – 8/10
Gareth Bale made a sublime cross for Lucas Vazquez to score, and was one of the best players on the pitch today. He created several chances for his team, and found it easy to dribble past Real Sociedad players.
Substitutes
Mateo Kovacic – 6/10
Mateo Kovacic came on in the 58th minute for James Rodriguez, but didn’t have a major influence in the game. He added some steel to the Real Madrid defense, and helped his team to see out the game.
Lucas Vazquez – 7/10
Lucas Vazquez came on for Karim Benzema in the 75th minute, and found the back of the net ten minutes later from Bale’s brilliant cross. Vazquez looked lively after coming on, and could have added a second.
Casemiro – N/A
Came on too late to make an impact.
Real Sociedad
Rulli – 6/10
Rulli made few brilliant saves in the game. He denied Ronaldo and Benzema in the first half, and Bale from scoring in the second half, but in the end was beaten thrice.
Carlos Martínez – 5/10
Carlos Martinez was very ineffective in the game, and was regularly troubled by Ronaldo and Marcelo. He did very little going forward, and didn’t really try hard.
Aritz Elustondo – 5/10
Aritz played at centre-back, and was mostly ineffective. He particularly struggled aerially and was troubled throughout the 90 mins by Ronaldo and Benzema.
Iñigo Martinez – 6/10
Inigo Martinez failed to cope up against the likes of Benzema and Bale, and was troubled regularly. Though Martinez made a couple of good blocks, he was let down by his midfield, as they provided him no shield.
Yuri – 5/10
Despite a decent performance at the back, he gave away two penalties. The first was for bringing Benzema down, and the second for a hand ball, but TV replays showed he was unlucky in both situations.
Asier Illarramendi – 6/10
Poor game for the Spaniard as struggled in the midfield, Illarramendi failed to make an impact in the game as Real Madrid players found it easy to penetrate regularly.
Markel Bergara – 5/10
Just like Illaramendi, Bergara was invisible for most of the game, and struggled to keep hold of the ball.
Agirretxe – 5/10
Agirretxe came close to scoring in the first hald, which Keylor Navas came off the line to save, but had to leave the pitch after 17 mins due to an injury.
Xabi Prieto – 6/10
Xabi Prieto started on the right hand side, but struggled to pose any significant threat to the Real Madrid defense.
Sergio Canales – 5/10
Sergio Canales created a couple of good chances in the opening minutes of the game, but had to leave the pitch just before the break due to an injury.
Jonathas – 6/10
Jonathas really combined well with Bruma, and created caused problems for the Real Madrid defense a few times. He also provided the assist for Bruma’s goal.
Substitutes
Bruma – 7/10
Bruma came on for Agirretxe in the 17th minutes, and caused a few troubles for the Real Madrid defense. Bruma scored from a brilliant finish in the 48th minute, and came close to scoring again a few minutes later, but was denied by Keylor Navas.
Ruben Pardo – 5/10
Ruben Pardo came for Sergio Canales just before the break, but struggled to make any impact on the game, but made was involved defensively.
Carlos Vela – 5/10
He came on for Jonathas in the 67th minute, but didn’t have too much time on the ball to make an impact.
