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Score: Real Madrid 3-0 Las Palmas
Scorers: Casemiro 41', Asensio 56', Isco 74'
Zinedine Zidane's men had the best chance to get back to winning ways, after being handed their rear twice in successive weeks, as they hosted 19th placed Las Palmas. Well, it's fair to say that they made the most of it as they hammered 3, without reply, past the hapless Canary Islanders.
Casemiro opened the scoring for Los Blancos with a smart header in the 41st minute. Marco Asensio then doubled the lead with a spectacular strike from 30 yards out. Cristiano Ronaldo then set up Isco for an easy tap-in to round up what was a dominant display.
Here's what we took away from the game:
#5. Ben-seems-a bit too awful right now
In the 3rd minute, Ronaldo slipped the ball past the last Las Palmas defender to release Benzema into a one-on-one showdown with the Las Palmas goalkeeper Raul Lizoain. This used to be bread and butter stuff for the Frenchman but he fluffed his lines and caressed it with incompetency, straight at a diving Lizoain.
He could have squared the ball to Isco who was running free on the other side. But you couldn't blame the predator in Benzema for wanting to go all the way by himself.
Later, in the 38th minute, Asensio whipped in a beauty from the left flank to find Benzema, all clear in the middle of the box with no outstretched hands clawing him to the ground. All he had to do was put pen to paper but he refused to oblige and failed to even connect with the ball properly.
If Benzema was clinical, Zidane could have had that statement he and his lads wanted to be written in bold. Real Madrid desperately need a quality striker upfront and refraining from splashing the cash in January may not be the wisest decision.
#4. Las Palmas are toast if they don't get their act together
Granted, for a team that's within an arm's length of rock bottom in the La Liga, things weren't expected to get better at the Bernabeu. But fans would have expected Las Palmas to play with their heart on their sleeves to eke out a point like they did twice against Zizou's men last term.
They've lost 7 games on a trot in the league now and there are few signs which point towards sunnier days for Pako's men. They weren't without the rare chance but they were half-chances at best.
For the rest of the game though, Las Palmas sat deep and tried to frustrate Real Madrid. All the entertainment they provided came from some enterprising solo runs-- which unfortunately came to no good as well.
#3. Ronaldo doesn't score but shows glimpses of brilliance
Cristiano Ronaldo might not be back to his best but it's not for lack of trying. The Madrid frontman was desperate to get on the scoresheet and he was firing shots with either foot but just couldn't send the ball into the back of the net.
After Asensio scored the golazo of the game, Ronaldo nearly set the fireworks on cue after cutting in from the left wing and trying to carve one into the right top corner. He missed by inches but characteristically, he wasn't done influencing the game.
But Real Madrid's 3rd goal was the handiwork of Senor one-and-only. It was the trademark Los Blancos defence-to-attack transition which happens in the blink of an eye.
Asensio and Ronaldo combined delightfully on the right flank before he was all free to surge on ahead unchallenged. Ronaldo then picked Isco out in the centre of the box with pin-point precision. Isco didn't even have to adjust his feet-- it was served to him on a silver platter.
Ronaldo was stone-faced during the celebrations and you get the feeling that the man's hunger for goals will sooner or later be satiated.
#2. Pako Ayestaran isn't solving problems
When Pako Ayestaran took over, on the 27th of September, from the departing Manolo Marquez, Las Palmas would have hoped to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel is long, dark and unrelenting.
If this was England, the stands would be ringing with 'Sacked in the morning chants'. Or maybe the Spanish equivalent was indeed being sung at the Bernabeu. The only win they've picked up under his tutelage is the Copa Del Rey victory over Deportivo Alaves.
In the La Liga, Ayestaran has led Las Palmas to 6 straight defeats. Las Palmas needs to find some inspiration from within or outside-- but no matter the source, the important thing is that they do it fast. With just 6 points from 11 games, things are starting to look embarrassing for the Canary Islanders.
#1. Isco shines but Asensio steals the show
Isco Alarcon has clearly taken over from Cristiano Ronaldo as the main creative force in the team. Everything good going forward for Madrid has Isco's subtle watermark embedded in it.
He capped off yet another solid display with a rather easy finish after being set up by the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo.
But it is Asensio's glorious left foot that stole the show once again.
Toni Kroos took a freekick from the right flank and Raul Lizoain came out and punched it clear. The ball fell to Marco Asensio outside the box and he absolutely leathered it to the left-top corner and it was as eye-popping spectacular as they come.
Asensio didn't stop there. He played a meaty role in the third goal. It was the young Spanish international who released Ronaldo on the right flank with a neat little one-two that led to the third goal.
